


Throne of Glass Tumblr Prompts

by baelinwhitethorn



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, Drabble Collection, Drama, F/M, Humor, One Shot, Romance, rowaelin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 21,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5870191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baelinwhitethorn/pseuds/baelinwhitethorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompts and other one-shots taken from my Rowaelin blog, baelin-whitethorn.tumblr.com</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Love Me Like You Do

**Author's Note:**

> All characters belong to Sarah J. Maas.

    There’s a certain part of being single, unemployed, and living alone that makes one stand on their tables and sing Ellie Goulding in only their underwear. Aelin was participating in this part of it currently as she sang the lyrics, “ _You’re the light. You’re the night. You’re the color of my blood. You’re the cure. You’re the pain. You’re the only thing I want to touch._ ”  
     It was at the sounds of those lyrics that Aelin realized that Fleetfoot was missing. Shit. He still wasn’t potty trained, and she was supposed to keep an eye on him when he wasn’t in the kennel.  
     She searched her apartment as she instructed people to touch her like they did in song. When she realized the door to the balcony was open, she lay out a few words that would have given her mother a heart attack.  
      Before she reached the balcony, she realized that Fleetfoot had walked out of her balcony and into the open window of 5C. She looked around before following him.  
      Fleetfoot, thinking it was a game, ran off to hide before she could catch him. As she ran towards the general direction of where he went, he would flit off to the other side of the room.  
     “Dammit,” she whispered.  
     As she said it, Fleetfoot barked from his position in the empty sink. She chased after him, but he was already soaring over her head and onto the couch, barking.  
     Growling in response, she feigned running to him before bouncing to where she anticipated his next spot. He had been successfully tricked, so she positioned herself over him in hopes that he would not move any longer.  
     It was at that second that the door opened, and she glanced up with eyes widened in fear. There was the owner of 5C, looking as startled as she was. It probably wasn’t helping anything that she was only wearing her underwear.  
    “Can I help you?” the man asked. He was about 6’4” with pine green eyes and silver hair that he had tied into a bun. It looked like he had just gotten back from work with the apron wrapped around his waist. She actually knew him. He was a server at the burger restaurant she frequented that occasionally flirted with her, making it all the more mortifying. Though they had never conversed outside of the restaurant, they would nod to each other when they were grabbing their mail in the morning.  
     “I was just-“ Aelin said as Fleetfoot escaped her grip. She was just about to die of embarrassment honestly.  
     “I don’t have a lot of money,” he said as if trying to reason with her. “I’m just a waiter at the burger joint downstairs.”  
     “I’m not a burglar!” she yelled a little too loudly for someone to be totally innocent.  
     “Well, I guess I’ve never seen a near naked burglar,” he mused, eyeing her matching Captain America tank top and panties she had been given for Christmas last year. She imagined that if it were physically possible to die of embarrassment, she would have been long gone.  
      “Right,” she told him, covering what she could of herself. If she hadn’t broken into his apartment, she imagined that he would have been amused.  
     “Okay, well, whatever you’re doing here, I have to go take a shower. So, go do it in the kitchen or something. I have a pair of shorts on the counter. You probably want those.” He left the room as if this happened frequently, and she hastily grabbed the pair of basketball shorts from the counter. She imagined that since she had broken into his apartment, the least she could do was to do as he asked.  
    It was when she was sitting on his couch awkwardly that she saw Fleetfoot doing it and shrieked. Fleetfoot’s paws had dug into the carpet on one side of the apartment. The horror of the situation was only made worse as she realized how new his carpet must have been.  
     At the sound of her shrieking, he ran out of the bathroom in only a towel, asking, “Are you okay?”  
     Shit. Her flirting attempts had surely been at a loss at this point.  
     “Yes,” she told him robotically, flinching as he took in the sight of Fleetfoot laying his head down. Instead of being angry though, he snorted and left the room.  
    Oh, God. What if he was crazier than her? What if he stewed girls alive after luring their dogs into the apartment and having them tear up their floor? What if that was why he was so calm? That’s why he had flirted with her, then. It had to be. He just wanted to cut up her body and make his stew with it.  
     Or burgers.  
     He was a server after all. Maybe he was going to serve _her_.  
    When he left the bathroom, wearing new clothes, she avoided the terrified puns her brain was making. She would be brave. If she was going to be served on a bun, she would end her life with the only shreds of dignity left.  
     “I have a dog too, I understand,” he told her.  
     “What?” she asked, looking up at him. He nodded to Fleetfoot.  
     “Surprisingly enough, I met my wife when I had climbed through to her window to retrieve my dog. It actually was the same exact story…”  
      “Oh, you’re married?” she asked, offended that he had hit on her before.  
      His face closed off, “She passed two years ago.”  
       “I’m sorry,” Aelin said, feeling for him despite the guilt she felt for assuming he was going to turn her into food.  
      “No, it’s fine,” he said, sighing.  
      “Were you also wearing only your underwear?” Aelin asked.  
      “What?”  
      “Well, I’m trying to decide which of us has more reason to be embarrassed.”  
      The guy rolled his eyes, and she realized she didn’t even know his name.  
       “I’m Aelin,” she said timidly.  
       “I’m aware,” he told her. “You pay with credit card.”  
       “Right,” she replied, realizing that he had told her his name multiple time when he waited on her. Seriously, she was the queen of awkward.  
       “Rowan,” he supplied for her, grinning. “I’m starting to think that you want to leave a bad impression, Aelin.”  
       She made a face at him but didn’t argue.  
       They stared at each other a few seconds longer before they both looked away.  
       Finally, she said, “I’m sorry about your carpet.”  
       He glanced over. “It’s actually perfect. My old roommate, Lorcan, he was a total jerk. Anyway, he paid for this new carpet and then left after a bit. He’d be so pissed to see that it’s ruined.”  
        She raised her brows. “I’m starting to think you refuse to let me give you that bad impression, Rowan.”


	2. Things That Go Bump in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Look I'm glad you have a healthy sex life and all but will you please try not to pierce a hold through my ceiling with your bed thanks"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated M

     Lysandra lay down in her bedroom, finally getting started on a paper she had been procrastinating all week. After getting off from work at a Starbucks nearby, she was ready to just write.   
     It was a sad state for working in fast food when people actually wanted to do their school work.   
     Hearing some bumping from behind her, she decided Aelin was jumping on the bed again and turned on The Weeknd’s album “Beauty Behind the Madness.”  
      Bobbing her head to “Acquainted”, she started to type. The paper was for her Freshmen Comp class, so it really wasn’t awful. She had always been pretty talented at English.   
      She wondered briefly if Spotify was messing up because she heard the distinct noise of moaning.   
       In fact, it sounded kind of familiar. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.   
      Narrowing her eyes, she switched to “In the Night”, and the sounds went away thankfully. Huh, maybe she should sleep more. She was working two jobs and going to school.   
      When The Weeknd got to the chorus, she started hearing the moans again.   She paused her music outright, hearing the distinct noise of Aelin moaning.   
      Oh, gross. She knew Lys got off work right about now, right? Couldn’t she have had her “breaktime” with herself before Lys got home?   
     Okay, so Lysandra probably couldn’t judge, when she and her girlfriend had last been dating they had been pretty loud. But Aelin was single, so she could have her “alone time” when Lysandra wasn’t around, she didn’t have to work on other people’s schedules. Or she could have at least put a sock on the door. She knew Lys had a really important paper, so she could have had just the slightest decency.   
      Well, Aelin was probably feeling lonely. Maybe she could forgive her for this.   
      So, with great amounts of love for her friend, she continued writing her paper. But she put her earbuds in. Because she wasn’t a voyeur.   
      With the soothing sounds of The Weeknd back in her ear, she started typing about a survey she had done earlier today excitedly. Listening to music made her write so much faster, she was a machine. She could do this.   
      And then she felt a bump on her back.   
      Oh, lord. This wasn’t what Lysandra wanted. She was busy doing her paper. Besides, when did Aelin get strong enough to move like that?  
       So, figuring that she had every right to, she rose and stomped to her roommate’s bedroom.   
       And walked in on a very intimate position.   
      Now, Lysandra had seen plenty of Aelin, but she had never seen this guy ever. He had silverish short hair and pine green eyes, and also a very large blush. Though she imagined that was because she was here.   
      “Ohmygod, Lys,” Aelin gasped. “I’m so sorry. This is Rowan.”  
      “One, how do you bend that way? Two, impressive length, Rowan. Mine’s bigger though.”  
      “Lysandra,” Aelin complained.   
     “Hey, I’m just stating facts here,” Lysandra said, putting her hands up in an appeasing gesture. She loved teasing Aelin, but Aelin’s fuckbuddy would be even more fun to make fun of.   
     “I listened to you and your ex all of the time,” Aelin said.   
      “Yeah, but our relationship wasn’t about fucking though,” Lysandra shrugged.   
       “It’s not about fucking,” Rowan said. “I care about Aelin. We actually just started this part.”  
      “I didn’t want you to be upset,” Aelin explained. “I knew you were dealing with a breakup.”  
     Lysandra was touched. In a weird way.   
      “You really would do that for me?” Lysandra said. Aelin hid their relationship because of her feelings.   
       “Of course,” Aelin replied.   
       Lysandra smiled before saying, “Well, I’m glad for you guys, but can you please be quieter? I’m trying to write a paper.”


	3. Boredom and Bromance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Is there a reason you're naked in my bed?" + Writer's Preference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated M

      Aelin sat in the university library, trying to study for a psych final.   
      It was pretty hard when her boyfriend existed though.   
      In her freshmen year, Aelin had started dating Rowan Whitethorn. He was kind of really hot and kind of everyone was attracted to him. She didn’t mean to start dating him, she really had kind of just been one of his bros for a while. But then they had made out at a frat party and he admitted to having a crush on her and they started dating.   
       On any other day, she would be glad for her boyfriend, but he knew that she had a psych test and thought it was funny to distract her.   
       And his ways of distraction were just cruel. At the moment, he was sending nasty versions of sweet nothings, which were really more hilarious than anything.  
      But then he sent a picture.   
      When she gasped, a bunch of people glanced up at her blushing face.   
      She texted back this time.   
      _Why are you naked?_  
      He replied a few seconds later.   
      _Had to get you to pay attention somehow ;)_  
      Aelin rolled her eyes.   
_Would it get your attention if I forwarded this to your mom? ;) ;)_  
       _Don’t even joke about that._  
       _Don’t fuck with me, Whitethorn_.  
     _That was actually my intention._  
       Aelin laughed, despite herself. This wasn’t the first time they had done this, but he knew she was in a library for Christ’s sake.   
       So she ignored him, reading about the limbic system instead.   
       _Baaaaaabe, why are you avoiding me?_  
       _Clingy motherfucker._   
       I _’d like to cling to you right now actually ;)_  
 _Oh, shut the fuck up._  
       Aelin ignored him some more, smirking to herself. The more she ignored him, the more persistent he got. She actually had studied plenty for this test, and he knew that very well. He was probably distracting her so she wouldn’t over-study, which she did frequently.   
        But she wasn’t going to be distracted.   
        So she learned about neurotransmitters and went through her flashcards diligently for another thirty minutes. In fact, a couple of students joined her, and they worked through together and studied. One girl had brought in tests she had made up, and they took a few of those until everyone was feeling confident in themselves.   
       She left to go to the restroom (and cry about school and sleep-deprivation) shortly after they had gone through her flashcards for a third time.   
It was then that she got another picture from Rowan. If she had blushed before, she imagined her whole body was turning red now.   
    _Is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?_  
      Her reply came just as quickly as her comment.  
      _Well, my bed wasn’t as comfy._  
       _And so you got naked in mine?!  
       Oh like I haven’t been before ;)  
       Omg, shut up._  
       Rowan didn’t shut up.   
       _C’mon. We both know you’re prepared for that psych test. You could use a distraction. And I would love to be that distraction for you._  
        Aelin couldn’t say that he didn’t have a point, but she also didn’t want to be the girl that got naked in the bathroom. She told him as much.  
       _You could get in one of the stalls. Or better yet, you could come to your dorm room and get naked there. Lys is gone for the holiday._  
       Her roommate, Lysandra, had already done her finals and had gone back to her home in South Carolina. Rowan wouldn’t have done that otherwise, but still.   
       She glanced at the stall beside her. No one was using the bathroom at the moment, and there was a door.   
        Fuck it.   
        It was going to be her New Year’s Resolution to be more adventurous anyways.   
         So she went in the stall and pulled off her shirt, getting a good angle and sending.   
        _Wow, you actually did it?  
        Send one back. It’s only polite, Whitethorn. _  
        _Gladly, Queen Aelin.  
        Shut up.   
       Make me. _  
        As much as he was frustrating, this was kind of fun. Not that she’d admit that to him. She had already given and sent the damn picture.   
      _I’d actually like you to keep talking, maybe you could tell me what you’d do to me if you were here. ;)_  
        Boom! Aelin had definitely won this one. Considering that she had made the decision to do this primarily to win, she had to put all of her effort into it. And so she did.   
       _I’d probably start with high fiving you for not shaving beforehand because feminism._  
        Aelin rolled her eyes. At this point in the relationship, if Rowan wanted her to shave for him, he would have to shave too. She had cheerfully told him that before he could even make the comment.   
   _And then?_  
        _Oh, well, I’d probably ask you why you were naked in a bathroom stall. That’s unclean you know.  
        Well, you know how I like it dirty.   
       Touché, Galathynius. _  
        Aelin laughed. More than anything, she liked sex with Rowan because he knew how to make her laugh. She didn’t want to be seduced, she wanted someone who could make her smile at any time.   
       _Anything else you’d do?  
       Oh, well, maybe make out with you. Idk, man. I may get dirty from your bathroom adventures. _  
       _You’re the one who suggested it!  
         I have poor judgement! I’m a sociology major, couldn’t you guess that?_  
        Aelin figured she could get him to be more serious if she sent another picture. This one she was posing with one finger in her mouth and missing all of her clothes.   
      _I hope you know there’s a toilet behind that naked lady in that picture you sent._  
         I hope you know that naked lady is wanting you to seduce her.   
        Oh, well, maybe she needs to come to her bedroom.  
         Rowan, you literally just said I should go to the stall.   
         I don’t remember that.   
         You’re a buttface.  
         You’ve told me.   
          Aelin only rolled her eyes.


	4. Fandoms and Other Things of Importance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you do the "my best mate somehow fucked up my tv and tonight is the season premiere of this show i really really like and no livestream will work on my computer so will you please let me watch it on your tv i promise i’ll go back to my flat once it’s over" au pretty please with whip cream and a cherry on top?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

       “Are we really doing this right now?”  
       “Oh, I think we’re doing this.”  
        Lysandra’s eyes were wild. Power hungry. Aelin had never seen anything like it.   
        Now, the thing about two single girls living together meant that they were always doing regrettable and sad things. Since Lys and her girlfriend had just broken up, she was having a hard time coping.   
         And so that meant emergency karaoke competitions.   
         While they were best friends, it really didn’t matter Aelin that much. But it really would have been nice if her best friend would recognize that constant karaoke was bad for her friend’s recovery. No matter how many times she tried to explain this to her friend though, she would just sort of scream at her.   
         So Aelin just kind of accepted it.   
        “Come on,” Lys whined. “You know you wanna hear me sing Halsey and grind on you.”  
        “I most certainly don’t want that!” Aelin snapped.   
        Lysandra glared at her, grabbed the microphone and sang.   
       Aelin must explain something. Lysandra, despite her many talents, was an awful singer. So to hear her friend sing New Americana at the top of her lungs was not pleasant.   
       “LYS, NO!”  
       Lysandra just continued, singing about legal marijuana. And then she bumped her hip into the TV.   
       The world went on in slow motion. The TV fell to the floor almost gracefully, landing with a large splat.  
       Aelin during the slow motion, had put her hand out and yelled “nooooo!”  
       But slow motion or not, their TV was broken.   
        And it was the season premiere of Game of Thrones tonight.  
        Aelin did the only thing that anybody could do in that situation, she sobbed.   
        “Khaleesi,” she gasped out.   
        Lys actually had the audacity to look contrite, like she hadn’t just ruined her best friend’s entire existence.   
        “Oh, man, I’m sorry,” she said.   
        “Sorry?” Aelin yelled. “Sorry doesn’t count it! How am I going to know what happened to Arya?! To Khaleesi?!”  
       Aelin couldn’t take the abuse anymore, she left the apartment.   
       As she was running off into the sunset, she ran into one of her neighbors who was grabbing his mail.   
        “Oh, hey, love the shirt!” he said.   
       Aelin glanced down, saw her “winter is coming” shirt and sobbed more.   
       “Hey, what’s the matter?” the guy asked.   
      “My best friend fucked up my TV,” Aelin whispered dejectedly. How could the world be so cruel? What did she ever do? Did she hurt someone? Maybe she hurt someone. That’s the only reason any god would hurt her ability to watch Game of Thrones.  
       “Oh, yeah, the premiere!” the guy exclaimed. “Hey, you can watch it with me, man.”  
      “Really?” Aelin couldn’t believe it. The world had brought her a savior. A person to give her access to the best television show the world had to offer.  
       “Yeah, of course,” he shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”  
      “No big deal?!” Aelin shrieked. “I could kiss you!”  
      The guy raised a brow, “You don’t even know my name…”  
      “I’m Aelin, and I’m in love with you,” Aelin said.   
       “I’m Rowan, and I just met you,” he replied.   
       Aelin figured that meant nothing. He actually was rather attractive, and since he was her soulmate it was all the better. He didn’t seem to think they were together quite yet but that didn’t matter, Aelin had the same relationship with the mailman (that’s another story for another time).   
     “Well, it starts in about twenty minutes,” Rowan said. “I’m going to go grab some take out, here’s the key to my apartment. 5E.”  
     “Wait!” Aelin yelled, and he glanced back. She grabbed two twenties from her pocket.   
      “For the food,” she said. “And I like chicken fried rice.”  
      He smirked, and she ran to 5E with a smile on her face.


	5. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE your Rowaelin fics!!! Could you write some angsty stuff about Aelin giving birth to her first child but almost dying in childbirth like her mom? And Rowan is super worried out of his mind but they all end up being okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

     Rowan was in the middle of a meeting while Aelin stared dejectedly at him. He had made her stop leading meetings when she got this far in the pregnancy, and he had made her stop training immediately. She was not nearly as concerned about her safety as he was, but she couldn’t announce that to him. He’d get concerned about her even more.   
       For someone who was supposed to be a badass fae that was in all of the legends, he really was a pain in the ass.   
       She couldn’t tell him that because he would pout and having some 200 something year old pouting was probably the worst thing in the universe.   
       He did allow her into the meeting room though but that was probably because he wanted to stare at her and make sure she was okay. She figured that was her only in to all of the meetings she should be doing as she was the Queen of all of these bastards. And he was only King by marrying her. Which she brought up frequently. Because she was hilarious.  
       Which didn’t matter because she couldn’t even joke with the stupid other people in the meeting because they were too busy staring at Rowan like he was the king or something.   
       She glared at him, and he very subtly rolled his eyes at her. He took his job very seriously, but she knew how to take that away.   
       Instead of letting him win, she stood up and left the meeting chambers.   
      Of course, when she started up the stairs to her bed chambers, she felt a very sharp pain in her stomach.   
       The baby had never kicked this much. She gasped out, and then glanced down. She was bleeding out.   
       She shrieked in pain as another stab went to her, and in a few seconds a bunch of guards were on her. And in about thirty seconds, Rowan was there. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, rushing her to the medical chambers.   
        “Are you in pain?” he asked as he carried her.   
        “What the hell do you think?” she snapped at him. He didn’t seem to mind that she was verbally assaulting him though.   
       “How long has the bleeding been happening?” he asked.   
       “Since a minute ago,” she told him. “Is the baby okay?”  
       “I don’t know,” he told her, and that worried her more than anything.   
       When they reached the medical chamber, a bunch of fae healers pulled her out of Rowan’s arms and onto a little cot.  
        “The baby is near,” one told Rowan. “She may not make it though.”  
        Rowan inhaled sharply, but he didn’t say anything. Just let her squeeze his hand.   
        “We’re going to cut her,” one of the other healers said, pulling a knife out.   
       Rowan still kept silent, probably just hoping she was going to be okay. But she did feel a breeze on her neck that reassured her he was going to be there the whole time.   
        A few seconds later, there was a knife digging into her, and she screamed.    He tightened his hold on her.   
        Finally, the cutting stopped, and she heard the sound of crying.   
        But the whining was gone quickly, and Rowan left as well. The healers had him clean the child and make sure it was okay.   
        She started sobbing. She was all alone. She was going to die here.   
        The healers started putting their hands over her stomach, and she started feeling soothed immediately. But she was losing blood fast, she knew it was better to not be hopeful.   
        But then she thought of the sobbing she’d heard a few seconds ago. Her baby needed her. Rowan needed her.   
        And it was at that thought that she passed out. 

***

      She woke up some time later, not in pain. A gasp left her lips, and then she heard the sound of breathing.   
       Looking up, she saw Rowan and a small child snuggled into his shoulder.   
       “May I hold her?” she asked, and a healer nodded sharply to Rowan. He smirked and handed her their daughter.   
       Seeing the sharp ears and hearing her breathe made Aelin finally feel safe again.   
        “Hello,” she said gently to the little girl. “I’m your mother.”  
        Their daughter breathed a little bit, and she felt tears falling from her. Rowan wrapped his arm around her, and they sat there for a while. A family.


	6. Of Mortality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan and Aelin, when Aelin starts to age

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated: T  
> Warning: Major Character Death

     It started out with small things like Aelin’s hair turning into a silver color or lines starting to fall under her age. Rowan didn’t mind that. He knew that she felt fine, and it didn’t matter to him as long as his mate was happy.   
       But then she started feeling pain. Pain stronger than anything he could ever imagine if his mate was winded by it. He knew she was so strong, so her even allowing herself to look in pain sent daggers through his body. Occasionally he would see her coughing up, and hiding her hand before he could see the blood.   
      Of course he saw the blood. He was a full blooded fae, he could smell it every time she would cough it up. And each time he would feel the pain she was going through all throughout his body.   
      And when the pain was over, all he felt was empty. He knew as well as anyone else that she was going to die soon. That she was just prolonging it.   
     One day, when they were training, she asked him to stop. She had never asked that of him before once she started truly living up to her potential. When he immediately backed away, he saw tears in her eyes. His stomach turned, and she walked back to the castle.   
      It started to become the big things. Her forgetting the names of her grandchildren or not knowing how to hold a knife properly. Eventually, their first daughter took charge of Terrasen. And then she just laid in bed all day, staring at the ceiling. The only times she would wake up would be to cough up blood.   
      When she started to decay visibly, he lay down beside her on that bed. While she looked up, he looked at her. Held her in his arms. Let her breathe the air he provided for her or the breeze on her neck when she started sweating.   
      And then it became too much. His mate couldn’t fight any longer, and he knew that she would have fought as long as she was able. So he didn’t mind letting her go.   
      But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when he heard her heart fade away.


	7. You May Now Kiss the Bride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin and Rowan's daughter introduces them to her boyfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating T

     Aelin and Rowan sat in their bedchambers while Rowan angrily ranted to her about how his daughter told him that she was going to introduce them to her mate today.   
      It was sort of bound to happen. She was seventeen and the princess, she met new people every day. Obviously she was going to find one that ended up being her mate at one point.   
       “I swear, if he hurts her,” Rowan grumbled.   
       “I know you’ll rip off his skin,” Aelin said, almost boredly. He just sounded like an old man when he complained by this point. She wasn’t sure if she should tell that to her mate, Prince Rowan Whitethorn. Didn’t want him to know that she’d thought he’d gone soft.   
      So she listened to him grunt.   
       “He’s not gonna be bad,” Aelin said, rolling her eyes. “He’s likely going to be pretty great, you know. Usually, when someone meets their mate, they aren’t shitty to them. I say usually because you don’t fall in that category. And you’re being hypocritical.”  
      “I am not hypocritical,” Rowan growled, but she just raised her eyebrows at him and he gave her an annoyed expression before stomping off like a teenager.   
     He’d definitely gotten soft.   
***

     Aelin and Rowan entered the dining hall, and all bodies went to the floor as they walked forward.   
      “You may rise,” Aelin called, forgetting yet again that they did that. “We are gathered today for the mate of the Princess and future Prince of Terrasen.”   
      Her daughter walked up, hair pulled back and wearing a dark gown.   
      Instead of giving the traditional words, she went up to her father and stood up on her tiptoes. He leaned down, listening to her speak before his eyes widened.   
      “Pardon our language,” Rowan called. “Future Princess of Terrasen.”  
       Aelin couldn’t help herself. “I. CALLED. IT.”  
      Aedion yelled to her, “I don’t owe you anything! You said she would’ve announced it sooner!”   
      Aelin glared at her cousin, upset that he was going to not follow through with the bet they’d made when she was younger. Rowan looked to be having an existential crisis. Princess Nehemia Whitethorn Galathynius was only blushing profusely.   
      “This makes so much sense,” Lysandra said. “That’s probably why she went with my faeminist movement. I must say, I only did it for the pun. Speaking of which, does this make her a Gay-lathynius?”  
       Lysandra had actually written literature on “faeminism” that everyone just kind of accepted by that point. It wasn’t the first thing she had done purely for the pun.   
      It was then that a tall, lanky redheaded fae walked forward. She was blushing as much as her daughter before announcing the ceremonial words.

***

     “You like…girls?” Rowan asked finally while they were all feasting.   
     “I called it,” Aelin told him.   
     Nehemia sighed, “I’m just glad he’s not doing the overprotective, crotchety old man fae thing.”  
      “Aelin is worse to be tortured by than me,” he offered to the redhead.   
      “I called it,” was all Aelin said in response.


	8. Take It Off- Number Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you keep looking at me like that we won’t make it to a bed.” + “You heard me. Take. It. Off.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated M

      When working as Queen of Terrasen all day, every day, Aelin was forced to quell certain urges.   
      But not always.   
      Today was her birthday, and Rowan was naturally required to do what she liked as her mate, husband, blahblahblah.   
       She intended to use him for her more primal, fae urges today.   
       Of course, that put her in a bad position. Because he was sort of in the middle of conducting a meeting that she was sort of supposed to be listening too.   
       But it was her birthday.   
      She met his eyes from across the table, winking at him suggestively. Nobody saw the exchange except for Lysandra, who rolled her eyes. But the effect on Rowan was immediate. His pine green eyes darkened admirably.   
      “You know,” Lysandra announced to the board of people supposed to be giving money to Terrasen or something that Aelin couldn’t bring herself to care about. “I think we need to think about the kids. You know, speaking about kids, how are fae babies made again? I forget.”  
      “Lys,” Lorcan warned, and she glared at him. He kept his mouth shut because Lysandra had that effect on every man (and let’s face it, women too).   
      “Can we all just agree that they should be called Faebies?” Aedion said. “It just sounds so much better than ‘babies.’”   
      “But he’s not silenced,” Lysandra moped, and a fae grinned at her.   
      Of course, this was only sort of a thought in Aelin’s head because she was currently communicating with her mate and avoiding everyone else.   
      _If you keep looking at me like that, we won’t make it to the bedroom,_ his eyes seemed to say. She only smirked.   
_Even better that way._  
      Oh, you know I’m not an exhibitionist. I’m too old for that.   
       But it’s my birthday.   
      He rolled his eyes before clearing his throat and effectively silencing where Lysandra was giving an impassioned speech about “faemenism” and the necessity of puns in civilized society.   
      “As Prince Rowan Whitethorn, I deem this meeting to be dealt with by my mate’s blood sworn, Aedion Ashryver.”   
       Aedion quickly announced his agreement about puns to Lady Lysandra, and she eyed him approvingly.   
       But Aelin wasn’t focused on that. After Rowan left to go to their bed chambers, she slipped out of the room and, as she wasn’t in sight for anyone else, her clothes as well.   
      When she entered their room, he eyed her approvingly before trailing his eyes to her face and grinning.   
      “Take them off,” she indicated his pants after pulling his top off.   
      “I’m sorry?” he asked as she groped his behind.   
      “You heard me. Take. It. Off.”  
      He rolled his eyes but said “anything for you” and obliged.   
      As their mouths slipped together, they heard the sound of Lysandra yelling, “It’s our faet as a species!” 

      The only urge she quelled today was the one to laugh.


	9. Forever Young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his birthday, Aelin tells Rowan that she's figured out a way to become immortal

    Rowan rose from his bed, reaching over to his Aelin immediately. When he could not feel her, he glanced up to her side of the bed. Empty.   
    Suspicious, he walked to his dressers and threw on a pair of clothing for the day. As he went to the bathroom to wash his face, it struck him.   
    It was his birthday. Which was probably why Aelin was missing, probably preparing for the ball that she arranged each year that he was required to attend.   
    Instead of looking for her, he went about his usual business. He knew that she’d find some way of surprising him throughout the day, so he figured that he could go ahead and make it easy for her.   
    When he was writing a letter to one of his cousins, he felt the comforting scent of jasmine and lavender fall behind him. Not looking up, he greeted his mate.   
     She sat down in his lap, interrupting his writing the way Fleetfoot would just as often. Though he wanted to argue, her lips pressed against his and he stayed silent.   
     “Happy birthday,” she told him.   
      He pulled away from her, grinning. She looked like she had just left an important meeting, and he figured that she got out of it for him.   
    “How does it feel being really old?” she asked him, taking his quill from him and putting it on the desk.   
    “No different than usual,” he laughed. “Are neither of us keeping track of my age anymore?”  
    “Isn’t that your job?” she grumbled.  
    Rowan pulled her off of him, already thinking about what made him dread his birthday each year. At one point, she was going to not be there to force him to attend her ball, and each year she would grow older and more fragile.   
    She was staring into his eyes as he thought it, and he immediately felt guilty. The depressed look in her eyes made him wish he had never thought about it. They pulled away from one another before she finally told him that he had clothes prepared with Aedion if he went downstairs and grabbed them. The door closed a few seconds earlier, and he regretted worrying about it. She had no control in the matter.   
    He sighed. He had always hated his birthday.   
    Aelin stared at her reflection in the mirror, at the long gown that wrapped around her body tightly in all of the desired areas. Though it wasn’t exactly modest, most people wouldn’t argue with Rowan at her side.   
    She pulled her hair behind her, turning to Lysandra who was lying down on her bed.   
    “Does he know yet?” Lysandra asked, reading one of the romances that she had borrowed from Aelin and wrinkling her nose.   
    “I’m waiting until the ball,” Aelin told her friend, trying to figure out which part her friend was on to be making that face.   
    “Are you really now?” Lysandra made another face, mouthing the filthy line to herself as if trying to decide if the author was being serious.   
    “Are you listening?” Aelin asked, reading over her friend’s shoulder.   
    “I agree,” she replied, flipping the page again.  
    Rowan reached the ball at the exact time Aelin had commanded, nodding to where Dorian was talking to the young Prince of Adarlan. Before he could look around more, his gaze was filled with the sight of his Queen walking from the stairs. She grinned down at him, and he smiled back. He was glad that she was ignoring what had happened earlier as he already was judging himself enough for the two of them.   
    The room fell silent as she gracefully descended the stairs, embracing the King of Adarlan on her way to meet Rowan.   
    When she reached him, who was still gaping at the sight of her in the breathtaking green gown, the same color of the one she had worn to Sam’s grave. He imagined if the mate she had lost before meeting him had seen her now, he would have been as proud as he was of the progress she’d made since being Adarlan’s assassin.  
    “You look gorgeous,” he whispered in her ear. She smiled at him before they danced a song together for the kingdom to see.   
       When they finished, she whispered, “I’m so glad to live the rest of my immortal life with you.”


	10. I Wish I Could Hate You- Number Fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I wish I could hate you.”

  Throughout his life, Rowan had been teased frequently about being “fearless.” The truth of the matter was that he wasn’t. Sometimes he feared so deeply that he felt like he couldn’t breathe.   
    This was one of those times.   
    Rowan stared at his mate in shock as a bare blade lay against her throat, a drop of blood running down to where her shoulder met her neck, kissing it where he had many times before. Though he was horrified, there was nothing he could do to move. His heart sped, and he wished that there was anything, anything he could do as Vaughn smiled tauntingly at him. It had been the same with Lorcan before. The paralyzing fear of losing her that he sometimes would wake up from and scream. It was during those nights that she would turn around and comfort him, and it would be okay.   
    Finally, Vaughn’s knife left her throat, and he left. As if someone could hurt her again, he flitted to her side and wrapped his arms around her. Not caring that she complained as he scooped her onto his back, he was back to the castle just as quickly.   
    “I’m fine to walk, you child,” she growled, but he carried her up into the castle still.   
    When he reached their chambers, he set her on the bed and grabbed cleaning supplies. After cleaning the minor cut, he settled in beside her and rested his forehead on her shoulder.   
     “She’s using you against me,” he whispered. “He knows that you’re my weakness.”  
     “Rowan,” she sighed. “Loving me is not a weakness. I can take care of myself. Trust me, I’m used to knives at my throat at this point.”  
      “That shouldn’t be something you’re used to. I should be protecting you from that, and here I am failing you even now.”  
      “Rowan,” she pulled away from him and put her finger under his chin, forcing him to look up. His eyes were watering a bit, something that was so rare she couldn’t argue with. “You are not ever going to fail me. You’re my mate. Nothing you ever do would make me stop loving you, and you know that. I also know that you would never let me get hurt.”  
     “I wish I could hate you,” he whispered. “Because then you could never be used against me, and I would never have to worry about you again. My life would be so much easier.”  
      “Would it?” she asked. “You were so cold, so unhappy after Lyria. Do you really wish that still?”  
      “I never regret meeting and loving you,” he told her. “I regret people using that in ways to hurt you, and I regret not being able to fix it. But never you. I’d never feel remorse for loving you.”   
       She just smiled and rested her head against his shoulder as he had done before.


	11. Only Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Could you do a sick fic please? Aelin is like really really sick and Rowan is all worried and won't let anyone touch her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T  
> Warning: Major Character Death

    It was five decades after Aelin had reclaimed Terassen and life had resumed to normal that Rowan finally was struck with what he had been fearing since the day he had realized they were mated. Her aged, fragile body lay sprawled out before him, and his heart sunk at the sorry sight of it. His mate was still as beautiful as she always had been, and vanity was far from what he was worried. Honestly, with her heritage, she should have been able to last for another thirty years. If it were not for the sword that had been impaled through her body yesterday. His family had all come the second they heard the news, and it was obvious that the Queen of Terassen would fall very soon.  He could care less about her youthfulness, but he did want her to be able to run the way she used to, to laugh without coughing, to be able to not feel pains all over. The Aelin that he had been with years before was moving away further and further from him, and he knew his love was fading before his eyes. The one chance that Rowan had to take care of before would breathe out her final breath at any minute now, and he couldn’t leave her side for a second. He wished that it would just end, so she could stop staring at him with those pained eyes and go to the afterworld. But a selfish part of him was glad that she hadn’t left yet, that his sanity was still clinging to the earth until the very end.   
    “Rowan,” she whispered, voice cracking as if the air he helped supply for her was not quite there. The breathlessness of the days they had had before them were gone and in place it was just that she couldn’t quite process her lungs to truly breathe. He sometimes felt that he couldn’t breathe. Before her had been blackness. Confusion. Pain. He had never seen Lyria’s body and he had never cared to see anything else. He had dutifully just followed everything Maeve had said. And though it had been him who had finally beheaded her and raised the severed head for the world to see, he was thankful for one thing that she could do. Bringing Aelin to him had been the happiest he could have ever hoped for in his bitter life, and Maeve had given him that. Time had taken that away, and the spear shoved through her body had taken away what time was unsuccessful. He hadn’t even thought, he just killed her murderer without question and left. He didn’t want to torture anybody. There would be no purpose. It would only take away time that she could be resting in the infirmary and in the comfort of a bed. What he wished was that he could have found someone who had meant just as much to him and broken them, but even then it was time that Aelin would not have. And so instead he had carried her to the castle that her parents had perished in so she could perish there as well.   
    “Yes, Fireheart?” he replied, and she coughed again.   
    “Please bring our children. I think it’s happening,” she whispered. The past few hours, he had growled at anyone who had entered the room. If they were to upset her, to confirm what she already knew, he would waste his time killing them.   
    Time was a funny thing. He had spent so long with her, and here he was seeing her die because he couldn’t have taken the spear instead. Because he failed his mate as he failed Lyria and all of the years he spent trying to make it better were lost behind him the way she was about to be lost to him. Time takes sympathy for no one. Rowan knew that now.   
    Even though he knew that he risked seeing her last breaths and risked losing the torture he deserved for not paying attention better, he went to collect their eight children and their children. They fell into step beside him, taking note of the dark circles under his eyes and the depression of each step that fell down onto the stairs as he ascended them.   
    And he was again selfishly glad when he saw that she was still breathing. The rest of their family and friends walked into the room, and one by one they all said goodbye and kissed her forehead.   
    By the time that Rowan’s lips had met her forehead, her body had already gone cold.


	12. Plot with Porn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loved the chaorian (?) NOW I NEED SOME CHAORIAN SMUT!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated M- CHAORIAN FIC

Chaol had always been insecure about how many scars he had across himself. It wasn’t that he wasn’t proud that he had them, that he had proof of being the Captain of the Guard.  
But he was insecure because he was never perfect. He was insecure about many parts of himself, and so the scars just came along with it.  
“Chaol?” Dorian asked, standing behind him. Chaol had been looking in the mirror, a towel wrapped around his waist. He turned around to look at his friend behind him.  
“Yes?” he asked though he felt a blush pooling to his ears as his friend just sort of barged into the bathing room.  
“Are you okay?” Dorian wasn’t paying attention to anything but his eyes, thank the Gods.  
“Fine,” he replied after clearing his throat. Dorian nodded and then left him to his privacy.  
***  
The next day, Chaol was sitting in Dorian’s bedchambers, reading a book beside his friend.  
“Chaol?” Dorian asked. He hmmed his reply.  
Dorian moved closer to him. Chaol wondered briefly if he should back away, but he didn’t want to with the light that was sparking in Dorian’s eyes. He lived for that light.  
“Sometimes, I get really worried about how I look,” Dorian told him, looking down at him. His eyes were a little clouded, and Chaol wished that he could erase anything besides the brightness that Dorian always showed to everyone.  
“How could you?” Chaol asked him, not realizing what he had said until a few beats after.  
Dorian blushed just as much as him though.  
“Sometimes it’s hard. I think, ‘I could look better than this.’ I know it is silly-“  
“It is not silly,” Chaol told him sternly. “Everybody feels that way.”  
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Dorian said.  
Chaol cocked his head to the side, confused. He gently prodded his friend to go on, avoiding the sight of his lips.  
“I saw what you were doing yesterday,” Dorian told him, leaning in even closer. “Chaol… You just can’t think that way. You, over anyone else, don’t deserve to be insecure about yourself. I don’t think I have ever met anyone as beautiful as you are. Scars and all.”  
Chaol blushed. Dorian had never spoken so bluntly before.  
“And I know that I should not feel this way,” Dorian said quietly. “But I do.”  
There it was. The elephant in the room. The subject they had been avoiding since the first time they kissed at 15.  
“You’re going to be king, Dorian,” Chaol whispered softly, looking down. “We can’t do this anymore.”  
“But I love you,” Dorian told him. Chaol’s gaze snapped up to stare into his best friend’s.  
“You have to know that,” Dorian budged when Chaol hadn’t replied yet.  
“I-“ Chaol’s voice failed him.  
“Sorry,” Dorian said, grimacing. “You obviously don’t feel the same way.”  
As he was moving to leave him, Chaol pulled him into his arms. Dorian gasped, and then they were kissing.  
The last time they had kissed was on Dorian’s 17th name day, and Chaol could not explain how deeply that time had affected him. He pulled Dorian closer, drinking in the moan against his lips.  
“Of course I love you,” Chaol groaned. “How could I not love you, Dorian?”  
“You could have told me quicker,” Dorian reasoned, a cute frown gracing his features. Chaol only rolled his eyes and pulled him over so that he was straddling his hips.  
They kissed fervently for a little longer until Dorian started to unbutton Chaol’s training gear. Chaol didn’t stop him, but his heart spread.  
“Have you ever?” he asked Dorian, not finishing his sentence for his friend surely could understand.  
“No,” his friend told him honestly. Chaol nodded before explaining that he was in the same boat.  
“Well, at least we are together,” Dorian nervously giggled.  
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Chaol told him gently.  
Dorian moaned, and they continued undressing each other until there was nothing left to go.  
Each touch was nervous, worried.  
Each touch was followed by whispered reassurances.  
Each touch them that they loved the other.  
Each touch was gentle as it always was.  
Their breaths echoed one another as their lips continued pressing to each other. They continually whispered praise, encouragement.  
“I love you, Dorian Havilliard,” Chaol told him before their bodies reached a peak and they both fell on the sheets together, exhausted.  
“I love you too, Chaol Westfall,” Dorian replied. And they fell asleep in one another’s arms.  
Chaol never worried how he looked again. Because Dorian thought he was beautiful, and that’s all that mattered.


	13. Well, This is Awkward- Number Fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, have you seen the..? Oh.” + “Well this is awkward…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

     Aedion Ashryver had a very complicated life. First off, he had to deal with Lady Lysandra flirting with him 24/7. Second off, he was subjected to his cousin’s love life more frequently than he considered totally necessary.   
     While the former was sometimes enjoyable, he would sometimes wake up in nightmares by the second part. As his cousin was mated to Rowan Whitethorn and Faes have no boundaries, he oftentimes would just be walking into their room and have his eyes burned by the Heir of Fire.   
     Naturally, he avoided seeing the two Fae whenever physically possible. However, this proved to be nearly impossible considering that his cousin was his Queen and he had to report to her anytime there could be danger. It would make sense that the bigger threat was the horrors that the mates were up to in their free time.   
      It was on one such day that he saw the most horrifying thing his eyes had ever beheld.   
      He had woken up early, taking time to warm up and stretch before he trained Lady Lysandra to fight. She enjoyed shifting at random times during these lessons, so it was as much of a workout for him as it was for her. He didn’t blame her, growing up in a position where she couldn’t really fight at all, and so he took it upon himself to train her the way he would any other soldier. Of course, this usually subjected him to a boatload of flirting, so he doubted his decision frequently.   
      With a few moments before their lesson, Aedion remembered that he had forgotten where her battle armor was. Aelin wore the same size with the form Lysandra was currently taking, so he headed to the top of the castle where he room was.   
      He called out to his cousin, “Hey, have you seen the…?”  
      As he opened the door to her chambers, his eyes widened and his heart dropped, “Oh.”  
      Aelin and Rowan glanced up from where they were on the floor, a sheen of sweat coating Rowan’s bare chest. They were practicing fighting. In their bedchambers. It didn’t matter to Aedion that they were always sparring, but why he had to always walk in on it was beside him.   
       “Well, this is awkward,” Aedion announced as he saw the dominant position Aelin had on her mate’s lap, fangs still bared almost in shock.   
        “It would have been more awkward a few moments later,” Rowan told him, and Aelin smacked his chest.


	14. Everybody Makes Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I seriously need "we work out at the same gym and you always look super legit but i know you sing hannah montana in the shower and you know i know” au for rowaelin pls my soul is hurting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated: T

    In Aelin’s defense, the women’s showers were filled with the old ladies that had left their water aerobics class. While she was glad that they felt empowered enough to let it all hang out, she still went to the men’s locker room.   
    To be fair, when she had been working out this morning, the only male in there was Mr. Manbun that she tended to flirt with after they finished the stair master. Sweaty flirting was more of a challenge. Mr. Man Bun was her most important conquest, with his pine green eyes and yummy build. She was pretty certain that he had left already, so she figured if she hopped into the male’s toilets really quickly, it wouldn’t be an issue.   
    When she entered the bathroom, she heard the sounds of music that had long been forgotten after twerking and VMAs. More importantly, she heard Man Bun singing the ancient words, “Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days.”  
     So she may have leaned against the doors of the shower room to hearing his voice singing about how nobody was perfect. His voice held no embarrassment for singing her songs, and it even radiated the male dominance that he had any other time of the day.   
     Damn her singleness. She was finding it attractive to hear someone singing songs that played on RadioDisney.   
     To make it worse, The Best of Both Worlds came after, and he started making the guitar noises to cue the beginning. She made a small noise of laughter, and somehow he heard. Her heart paused its beating as the water shut off. Trying to feign nonchalance, she started looking around the tile floor.   
    Man Bun walked out of the room, steam following him. He had hastily thrown on his clothes and his long silver hair was now wetting his t-shirt.   
    He cleared his throat to signal his presence, and she turned around.   
    “Are you looking for something?” he asked her, crouching down beside her.   
     Just my dignity, she thought to herself.   
    “Yeah, I lost an earring,” she said, not technically lying because she had lost lots of earrings in her life. “My cousin, Aedion and I sometimes volunteer here. I helped him clean the bathroom last night.” All truths. It wasn’t her fault that he was piecing them together to form a story.   
    “Okay,” he said. “Would you like some help?”  
    “No, that’s fine. I’m sorry I didn’t leave when I realized the bathroom was occupied. I figured I would just look real quickly. The earrings were a gift from someone special to me.” She probably had someone that gave her special earrings that she lost. She probably wasn’t lying.   
    “You’re fine,” he said, and she realized he was probably being nice to her because of what she heard. He had a pretty solid reputation at this gym, and if the other douchebags in the free-weights section heard of this, he would probably be chastised as much as women that tried to go to the free-weights section. “Do you want any help?”

    She imagined that somewhere in her brain, the version of herself that was happy and emotionally unscarred was burying herself alive.   
    “I’m good,” she said, scrunching her nose. “I’m just going to leave.”  
    He nodded before saying, “About the Hannah Montana.”  
    His eyes were clouded in shame. She wanted to pat his head and tell him that everything would be fine.   
    Instead, she told him, “Nobody’s perfect.”


	15. Chaol's Shelves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaorian I wrote for one of my friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T, Chaorian

    Chaol’s bookshelf was small, organized, and clean, but what people didn’t know about it was that it had Dorian’s mark on it. When they were younger, Dorian would spend hours reading every book in sight, and Chaol would sit down next to him with a bored expression on his face. Eventually, Dorian started to realize that his friend felt left out when he read.   
    Dorian was sitting down next to his friend when he made that realization, and he stopped reading immediately.   
     “Chaol?” he asked, and Chaol looked up. “Do you want to read one of my books?”  
     Chaol seemed confused, but Dorian wasn’t having it. He stood up and walked to his room’s library with his friend trailing behind. Dorian looked and looked until eventually he found one of his favorite books and silently handed it to his friend.   
     “Thank you,” Chaol told him, and Dorian just grinned.   
     It became a normal occurrence. Chaol would finish his book, and then Dorian would find him another. They would lay down on Dorian’s bed and read together for hours. Whenever a new book was published, Chaol would lay his head down on Dorian’s shoulder and read the pages that way.   
     Dorian never told Chaol that those were his favorite times.   
     It was on Chaol’s 15th name day that Dorian had the idea, and he started ordering all of the books they read together. Then, he had a custom bookshelf made that was just small enough where Chaol wouldn’t tell him that it was ostentatious.   
    When Chaol woke up to the bookshelf, he had frowned. How had Dorian thought that he wasn’t going to rearrange it?  
    “Happy birthday!” a voice hollered, and he hastily wrapped the sheets around his body more securely.   
    “Thanks,” he mumbled, cheeks reddening.   
    “Did you notice that I picked out our favorite ones?” Dorian asked, sitting down beside him. Chaol grinned a bit, he actually had.   
    “It’s a really great present,” he told him, and they smiled at one another a little bit longer. Finally, Chaol coughed and they both looked away.   
    “How have you not gotten up and started organizing yet?” Dorian laughed. “I could see it in your eyes the second you woke up.”  
     Chaol made a face at his friend, saying, “I could at least put clothes on first.”  
     Dorian grinned before leaving him. When the door had closed, Chaol went out of bed and started inspecting the shelf. He noticed that every book that they had read together on their release was on the shelf, and the book that Dorian had given him a few years ago that started it all. Books that Chaol had said he enjoyed. The one that had made him cry. A series that Dorian and Chaol had argued about for hours on end. Dorian was able to put into this all of the times they had sat together in Dorian’s room when they would look up at each other and start conversing, book forgotten in their hands.   
     Chaol’s bookshelf was small, organized, and clean. But it also held the most important part of himself, Dorian.


	16. Just Can't Get Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rowaelin drunk truth or dare please :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

    When Rowan had first received the invitation to Aelin’s birthday party, he had stared at it for a solid five minutes. While he was a junior in high school, he had never been to a boy-girl party. Okay, so maybe he had been to some in elementary school, but Chuck-E-Cheese’s hardly counted as what he imagined was to come out of the party that was tonight.   
    It didn’t help anything that Rowan had a huge crush on Aelin Ashryver Galathynius.   
    “Okay, Whitethorn,” he said to the mirror. “You won’t get drunk and do something you regret. You will not cry. You will not vomit on Aelin’s shoes. You will not make out with anyone. You will not act gay around Aedion.”  
     Unfortunately, he would do all five things. But that was unbeknownst to him as he gave himself a thorough peptalk in the mirror.   
     As he reached the steps of Aelin’s House, more adequately title Aelin’s castle, he struggled to breathe.   
     “Oh, Whitethorn!” a female voice called, and he barely had time to talk before Lysandra tackled him. In being the shy best friend of Aelin, he also was friends with Lysandra, Nehemia, and Aedion.   
      “Hey, Lysandra,” he mumbled. She grinned loudly at him, kissing his cheek with a loud smack. So his friend was already intoxicated.   
      “Please stay by my side,” Rowan said. “I don’t want guys taking advantage of you.”  
     She giggled, “Rowan’s my protector.”  
    He made a face at his friend, but looped their arms together to ensure that some of the huge guys in the house wouldn’t hurt her. Despite the fact that he was a socially awkward nerd, he also happened to be six foot four and well-muscled, so he could take on whoever wanted to mess with his friends.   
    They entered the party to the loud pounding of “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, and Rowan groaned. He carried her upstairs to where the bedrooms all were, already occupied by couples. Each year, he had been able to avoid his best friend’s huge birthday bashes, but she was insistent this time. She told him that he needed to let himself have fun for once. He wanted to tell her ‘no’, but he was never able to really do that. It wasn’t his fault that his heart sped when she gave him that huge grin of hers.   
     “What up, bitches?” Lysandra yelled into a microphone she had managed to find in the few seconds that he wasn’t paying attention to her. At the sound of cheers from what seemed to be the teenage population of Adarlan and its suburb, Terassen, she shrieked and hopped off the banister of the staircase, flinging herself into the crowd. Rowan almost screamed as she fell down one story, but she managed to land into Aedion’s arms.   
    “I’D LIKE TO DEDICATE THIS MOMENT TO ALL OF MY HATERS,” she shrieked then gave a loud ‘Wooo!”  
    “It’s odd seeing her in her drunk party girl position, isn’t it?” Aelin asked him, sneaking up behind him.   
    He glanced down at her, “She almost broke her neck.”  
    Aelin grinned, “She does that sometimes.” When he didn’t respond, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to her bedroom on the third floor. Those rooms had always been cut off during parties, and Rowan had hid in them every party Aelin made him go to, doing his homework.   
     “I thought I had to socialize this year,” he commented.   
     “You do,” she told him. “But I’m not letting you hit on random girls wearing that.”  
      He glanced down at his warm sweater and baggy jeans, wondering what he had down wrong. That’s what he usually wore.  
      She smirked at him, saying, “Exactly why it’s wrong.”  
    He gave her an offended glare, which she shrugged off. When they reached her bedroom, a hot pink mess that had books coating all of one wall, she pulled off his sweater.   
    He truly tried not to blush, “Hey!”  
    She rolled her eyes, “You’ve seen me naked, I don’t know why you’re so sensitive.”   
    He made a face at her, “I walk in on you taking a shower once, and you still grieve me so much.”   
     She grinned at him, “And you wouldn’t have it any other way.” He cleared his throat, trying to ignore the sharp pounding of his heart.   
    He made a choking noise when she attempted taking off his pants, and he snapped, “Just give me the other clothes and I’ll change in the bathroom.”   
    She shot him a confused glance, but handed him the pile of clothes. He left her, shutting the door of the bathroom quietly.   
    Rowan regretted his entire existence as he pulled on the black skinny jeans and the pine green plaid button down shirt. He unbuttoned it to reveal his undershirt underneath, showing off his toned stomach.   
     “Are you serious?” he yelled to her.   
     “Love you!” she called back, and he stomached his embarrassment and walked out. She squealed when she saw him.   
     “You look hot!” she told him, a touch of pride in her voice. He seriously doubted his entire existence in that moment.   
     They walked out to the party together, where Lysandra was singing in lot less clothing than she had not thirty minutes before. Rowan wondered whether or not he was going to be in the same position as his friend soon.   
     Aelin took two red cups, handing him one. After seeing her take a sip, he gulped down the whole thing. He imagined that he would regret it soon. She only grinned and handed him another drink.   
    By the next hour, Rowan was singing karaoke with Gavriel, stopping frequently to yell his important feelings.   
    After singing Total Eclipse of the Heart, something someone had dared him to do, he bellowed, “I THOUGHT JOEY AND RACHEL WERE A MUCH BETTER MATCH THAN ROSS AND RACHEL.”   
    Everyone yelled in agreement, or maybe they were yelling that he should take off his shirt. He took off his shirt in case that’s what they were yelling.   
    At someone’s suggestion, he started singing, “I’m too sexy for my shirt.” He started crying by the end of it, explaining his feelings that maybe he wasn’t too sexy for the song. It was such a profound song, he had never realized.   
    Aelin pulled him off the stage by then, smirking at him. “Oh, drunk Rowan is more fun than I would think.”   
    He forgot everything in that second. Her eyes were so beautiful. “Aelin,” he whispered. “Your eyes are prettier than bear nipples.”  
    “That’s really sweet, Rowan,” she told him, dragging him off the semi stage that he had been dancing on a few seconds ago. He groaned, “You don’t understand. You’re so beautiful. It’s unfair. Just like purple glue. It’s so deceptively beautiful, allowing you to see how beautiful it is one second and just becoming invisible the next. But you’re never invisible to me, Alien.”  
     “Did you just call me Alien?” she asked him, glancing down.   
     “You can probe me whenever you want,” he told her genuinely.   
    Lysandra, as drunk as he was, yelled, “We should play truth or dare!”  
    A bunch of people yelled in agreement, and Aelin made a face at all of them, “You guys, we’re not thirteen.”  
    “She’s just saying that because she doesn’t want to have to give someone a lap dance for the fifth year in a row,” Nehemia told Lysandra with a grin. Rowan resisted the urge to be upset that she was giving random guys lap dances, hoping that she was dared to do it to him.   
    “Rowan, back us up,” Nehemia told him, and he nodded fervently. Aelin, with a huge sigh, conceded, though she glared at all of her friends.   
     In a surprisingly quick fashion, all of the kids participating were arranged in a circle, as if it were indeed middle school again.   
     “I go first,” Lysandra yelled, turning to Aedion. “Truth or dare?’  
     Aedion made a face at her, “Truth.”  
    Lysandra gave him a face that was calling him a scaredy cat, but she asked him, “Who is the cutest person in here?” Everyone knew fully well that she was only asking to stroke her ego, but they didn’t argue.   
    “Rowan,” Aedion told her defiantly. Rowan giggled shyly, blushing.  
    Aedion gave his friend a confused glanced before saying, “Dorian, truth or dare?”  
    Dorian boldly said, “Dare.” Which was how he ended up wearing only his underwear.   
    Aelin sighed as he picked her next. “Dare,” she said with an eye roll.   
    “Don’t give anyone a lap dance tonight,” he told her. She smiled at him thankfully until he said, “But instead you have to kiss Rowan.”  
    Rowan stood up abruptly, eyes widening. Before he could try to look alluring, she leaned in and pressed her mouth to his. It was everything he imagined it would be and more.   
    He deepened the kiss, putting his large hand around her waist. She made a little noise, opening her mouth-  
    At the sound of someone wolf whistling, he pulled away, eyes darkened.   
    “Someone’s going to need one of those rooms up there,” Lysandra giggle. Aelin wouldn’t look at him. His face fell.  
    “Aelin, your turn!” someone called.   
    Still ignoring him, she said, “Nehemia, truth or dare.”  
    Nehemia gave a sheepish smile before saying, “Truth.”  
    “Have you ever kissed a girl?”   
    Nehemia nodded with more of a blush, and everyone started focusing on that rather than what just happened that made Rowan’s heart pound.   
     Nehemia turned to Chaol, “Truth or dare?”  
     “Dare,” he replied.   
     Nehemia thought on it for a second before telling him to kiss Dorian. That definitely took the focus off Rowan and Aelin.   
     When nobody was looking, Aelin grabbed his hand and dragged him upstairs. He tried to be as stealthy as his drunk legs would allow.   
     She slapped him when they reached the room, and he gave her a confused expression.   
     “Why would you do that?” she hissed.   
     “What?” he asked, hoping that she would stop making that face at him.   
     She sighed before whispering, “Kiss me back.”  
      They stared at each other a few seconds before he said, “I did it because I love you.”   
     Her eyes widened, and he leaned into her again. Their mouths moved together a few seconds before she said, “You’re drunk, Rowan. Not now.”  
     “I love you,” he told her again. Maybe one of these times it would stick in.   
     “No you don’t,” she hissed.   
     “I lov-“   
      The contents of Rowan’s stomach fell onto her feet, and her eyes widened.   
       And so Rowan did everything he said he wouldn’t.   
       While he did regret some of it, he never regretted telling her that he loved her. Because the next day, when he, sporting the headache sent from the darkest pits of Hell, told her it again. Because he would never forget it. Even if the words that he had been planning to tell her since he was thirteen had spilled out of his clumsy mouth in those seconds, he still told her that he loved her. And when he was sober, she repeated the gesture. And told him that he had a very convincing Bonnie Tyler voice.


	17. Tying the Knot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan and Aelin getting married?!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

Rowan’s hair had grown back out since the days of war and rebuilding Terassen had vanished. He was currently playing with it nervously. What if it got lodged in his throat while he was reciting the ancient words?  
He stopped breathing. He was ruining the wedding. Aelin had probably dreamed of this day since she was a little girl, and here he was choking to death on his own hair. Shameful.  
Okay, so maybe he was nervous. In his defense, Aelin had told him the night before, “Don’t mess up or it will forever be burned in my memories!” While she had probably been joking, he was still terrified that he was going to ruin his mate’s day. He just wanted the ceremony to be over with. To him, the mating bond snapping into place was the only thing that he needed.  
Of course, there was also the political importance of their marriage. Binding the Galathynius and Whitethorn lines was considered to be just as important as them loving each other. But even that seemed unnecessary to him. He didn’t need to have any particular title to be happy, so long as his Fireheart was still known as Queen.  
So he was under a lot of pressure. And, even worse, Dorian had insisted that they not be allowed to see each other based on some human tradition. He struggled to not grit his teeth. The only person that really helped him stop being anxious was his Aelin, who was in another side of the castle getting ready. Even when he tried to listen as closely as he could, it was like Lysandra was deliberately being quiet to pester him.  
“You don’t seem to be excited to be called King of Terassen,” a voice from behind said. Rowan spun around, eyeing Gavriel concernedly.  
“Why are you so worried?” he asked. “You realize this isn’t even the first time you’ve been married, right?”  
He groaned, “Aedion said the same thing.”  
“Aedion must have really smart parents,” Gavriel told him, fixing Rowan’s tunic.  
“You’re insufferable,” Rowan sighed. He then glanced in the mirror again before pulling a knife from him tunic.  
“It will really ruin the wedding if you stab yourself, Whitethorn,” Gavriel told him, smirking. Rowan didn’t pay him any mind as he neatly sliced out his hair.  
Lysandra walked in as he was doing it, and she started screaming.  
“You have hair all over you!” she snapped. “Why even bother getting married?!”  
As she was supervising the wedding, she had been acting pretty high strung recently.  
“What part of ‘Go calm Rowan down’ was that?” Gavriel asked.  
“Unless you want me to turn into a more threatening kitty then you,” Lysandra growled. “I expect you to silence yourself.”  
The fact that Gavriel did as she asked really proved how horrifying Lysandra was. Rowan knew the day he met the shapeshifter that she wasn’t somebody he wouldn’t want to pick a fight with, if only for the fact that Aelin was more terrifying and her closest female friend.  
“Why did you chop off your hair?” Lysandra asked the fae warrior, and he made a face.  
“I didn’t want to choke to death,” he told her in his most reasonable tone.  
“Rowan” she told him. “I love you. And you know this. But if you keep being a jackass, I will pluck each of your feathers off and make them into a scarf. Are we clear?”  
It was then that Aedion walked in, carrying a beheaded ice sculpture.  
“He was a good soldier,” Aedion intoned dramatically. He took one look at Lysandra’s face and walked away.  
“I think Rowan might pass out,” Gavriel offered to the silent room. Rowan, knowing that he wasn’t far from the truth, sat down.  
“What if I ruin it?” he whispered. “I already failed-“  
Lysandra started shrieking, “ROWAN, I SWEAR TO EVERY GOD YOU BELIEVE IN, IF YOU ANGST US ALL OUT ABOUT LYRIA, I WILL PULL HER FROM HER GRAVE SO SHE CAN STRIKE YOU FOR ME.”  
Evangeline chose at that moment to walk up to her adoptive mother, saying, “Auntie Aelin told me to tell you to stop being a controlling bitch.”  
Lysandra’s eyes widened before she stalked off, presumably to go yell at her friend. Evangeline glanced up at Rowan before smiling and saying, “If it makes you feel any better, you’re not as sweaty as she is.”  
Evangeline was about to leave, but Gavriel stopped her. “Eva, could you just sit down and give Rowan advice? I’m pretty sure you’re the only sane one of us.”  
She grinned up at him before sitting down next to Rowan. Her hair was adorned with white roses, framing her cheeks just enough to make her scars a little less recognizable.  
“Why do adults have to get married?” Rowan sighed. Sitting down, he let her pat his head.  
“Because they love each other,” she told him. “Don’t you love Aunt Aelin?”  
“I do,” Rowan conceded. “But-“  
“What’s to be nervous about then?” she interjected. “As long as you love her, then there is no reason to be scared.”  
Rowan frowned at the girl, “I hate it when you’re right.”  
She rolled her eyes, “You must hate it most of the time then.”  
When he was about to speak, she instead told him, “The ceremony’s about to start.”  
Rowan stood in the middle of the aisle, trying not to fidget nervously.  
He stopped moving completely when he saw her though.  
Aelin, though he could not see her face, looked absolutely radiant. From the red and white flowered crown that held her veil, or the way her blonde hair fell down in waves to her sides. She strutted towards him in that arrogant way that he loved.  
He resisted a chuckle when she tripped a bit over the tall heels she was wearing, obviously not used to walking like that in them.  
She wasn’t trying to hide any part of herself. She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Lilian Goldsmith, Celaena Sardothien, Elentiya. His mate, his queen. Most importantly, she was his Fireheart.  
All of the fear that he had felt before melted as if she had burned them for him. Instead of fear, he felt excitement. And a little embarrassment when Lysandra wolf whistled as he took her hand gently.  
“You look gorgeous,” he whispered to her.  
“You cut your hair,” she replied.  
They grinned at each other like they were two teenagers before the Fae beside them started reciting the ancient words.  
He didn’t really hear any of it, nor did he know what he was saying. All he knew was her in those moments. And when they leaned into kiss each other, he felt a joy that had lay dormant for centuries.


	18. Pine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin gets drunk and says weird things to Rowan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

  
Aelin lay against a pine tree, sniffling softly.   
She didn’t know whether or not she was crying out of relief to finally be home or the sadness that she never was allowed to feel as a child. Each time she closed her eyes, she was in that room again.   
It was probably dangerous to be out in the woods alone, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Lysandra was probably running around them anyways. Even if she wasn’t, Aelin could hold her own.   
Aelin spread her legs out against the snow, closing her mouth against the bottle of ale in her hands. Drinking couldn’t help, but it could at least let her forget for a second what it felt like to be curled up to her parents’ dead bodies.   
She hiccupped another sob, struggling to breathe.   
She really was a glutton for hurting herself, she thought, as images of Arobynn swam across her vision. Of him “saving” her. Of her last time speaking to him when his hands had-  
Her hands were shaking as she gulped down more of the liquid. She snickered softly at the thought of how the heir of fire felt a burn as the ale slid down her throat.   
The laughs soon became more sobs. So she continued drinking until the rest of the bottle was finished off.   
Soon her thoughts were blurred, and there was a smile on her face again. At the smell of pine behind her, she turned around.   
“Hi, Rowan!” she hiccupped, hugging the figure beside her. As she nestled her face against him, she glanced up, “Rowan why do you feel like bark?”  
Then she giggled, “You’re a bird. You don’t bark. That’s what dogs do.”  
Rowan remained silent, and she pouted. “Why are you so grumpy?”  
When he still didn’t say anything, she asked, “Do you know what is awful?”   
She continued on, figuring he was just going to let her speak, “I am here at the anniversary of their death, and I’m drunk as a Gods damned lion. Do lions get drunk? I wonder if Gavriel could answer that…”  
Her words started up again after a few beats of silence. “Sometimes, when I was in the Keep, I would lay awake at night. And I would think that maybe… Maybe it was just a dream. And with each year that passed, I clung less to that hope. Gods, Rowan, I didn’t. I didn’t even get to really feel it. To really feel losing them. Arobynn didn’t let me. He made me be someone else. A girl who didn’t have parents. And I grew to resent Aelin… I didn’t really accept her before I met you. I guess you know that… I sometimes think that when I found you, with that scent of home, that I thought that maybe you were home. But I don’t know how to feel these things because Arobynn took that from me as he took everything else.”   
Rowan still didn’t respond, and she sniffed the pine scent again to make sure that it was really him. He did feel quite rough.   
“Fireheart,” Rowan said from behind her. She stared at the figure she was hugging in terror, whispering, “How did you do that?”  
“Aelin,” Rowan said again, and the second Rowan sat down beside her. “Why are you hugging a pine tree?”  
Her eyes filled with tears, “Why are you judging me?”  
Second Rowan gave her a sympathetic look, pulling her body into his lap gently.   
“I’m assuming you drank that right there,” he said, nodding to a bottle. “For the reasons that you were just saying when I found you.”  
She just nuzzled her face into his chest, glad that this Rowan was softer.   
“Oh, Aelin,” he sighed. “You went through so much.”   
His chin rested on her head. She was glad of her days as an Assassin as she surreptitiously blew her nose on his tunic.   
“Glad this belongs to Aedion,” he murmured in her ear,   
She glanced up at him, still crying, “Why don’t you fly more often?”  
He made a face before answering, “Aelin, we need to get you to bed.”  
“Are we going to fly there?” she whimpered.   
“Oh, Aelin,” he sighed. He quickly straightened into a standing position, cradling her body in his arms.   
As Rowan carried her to the castle, she made loud bird noises.  
“What are you doing, Fireheart?” he asked, brushing her hair out of her face.   
“Maybe if you hear the sounds of your friends you will remember them and fly again. Fly, Rowan. Fly, fly away.”  
“Alright,” Rowan told her. He squeezed her tighter to him as the breeze picked up as snow fell onto them. Finally, they reached the castle, and he walked up the winding stairs until he reached the highest story.   
She had fallen asleep by that point, so he set her on the bed. At the smell of her vomit wrenched tunic, he quickly set off to find some of his clothes for her. After finding a pair of undershorts and one of his shirts, he changed her quickly. She didn’t move at all as his hands made quick work over her.  
After pushing her soiled clothes through the laundry chute, he changed out of his own clothes. She was still snoring as he pressed his body against hers and fell asleep.   
Aelin woke up to the room being brighter than usual. She groaned and shoved her head into her mate’s chest as if expecting him to protect her from the already setting migraine.   
“I’m shocked you’re able to awaken,” Rowan growled. She glanced up at him with a confused expression.   
“Did you make it really bright because I pissed you off somehow?” she asked, trying to rub out the headache from her forehead to no avail.  
“Oh, great,” he said. “You don’t remember.”   
She imagined that she must have done something bad for him to sound this bad. When she realized that she couldn’t remember the night before, it hit her.   
“I got drunk, didn’t I?”   
“Does asking me to fly with my friends ring any bells?”   
Though Aelin knew the situation wasn’t funny at all, she couldn’t help herself from giggling. Maybe it was hysterics. Or maybe the fact that she had confided her darkest thoughts to a tree.   
And pretty soon, Rowan’s face softened.   
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.   
“I don’t think so,” she told him.   
He rested his forehead against hers, sighing. “Please don’t scare me like that again, Fireheart.”  
She nodded, “Only if you agree to fly off with your bird friends.”  
He glared at her, but wisely said nothing else.


	19. Sparring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowaelin sparring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

Aelin shivered under the seemingly thin blanket in her bedroom. She wondered how long she could last without getting up before Rowan yelled at her.   
It was a risk she was willing to take.   
“Where have you been?” a voice snapped. She whined. He was pretty quick to the game.   
“Dying, hopefully,” she mumbled to the thin sheet, the only protection from reality.   
His voice held a tinge of amusement that she imagined only she could hear when he replied, “You will if you don’t practice, Aelin.  
She groaned, “Were you born with a large stick up your ass? Or have you just happened to get one lodged there in the past three centuries?”  
Rowan rolled his eyes, she imagined, and she felt his hand grip her elbow. In one fluid movement, she was standing beside the Fae warrior. Just as quickly, he was handing her a pile of clothes. After changing, she glared at him in a silent challenge.   
They both grinned quickly before walking outside the castle of Terassen. Most people would not want to get up as early as this to go out in the dead of the winter and spar. To be fair, they were not most people.   
Without warning, Rowan started. Before his blow could hit her, she dodged it and moved away. He grinned proudly at her, and she took the opportunity to try to land her fist on his chest. His stomach jerked away from her hand, and he backed up.   
They circled each other for a bit, eyeing each other’s movements.   
Fast as a snake, she struck at his stomach again. When her hand made contact, he nodded. Aelin sometimes wondered if the guy felt pain or if he just felt pride.   
The thought made a grin rise to her face, and he rolled his eyes. She imagined he could read her expressions just as much as always.   
A sharp breeze made the hairs on her neck stand, and she called out, “Cheater.”  
He only smirked in response, already in front of her. His hand smacked against her hip, and she bit her lip.   
“When somebody is about to kill you,” he grunted. “They generally do not care about whether or not they are cheating.”   
She knew that, but she still found it fun to taunt him.   
“How rude of them,” she said, eyeing how his leg moved slightly. She lazily moved to the right a bit, anticipating where exactly he was going to move.   
“I don’t think that’s what’s on their mind,” he replied, realizing what she was at the same time and changing his footing.   
While he did that, she gracefully lunged for him. His feet tripped up from her movement, obviously not expecting it. He jerked back awkwardly, tripping the two of them into the snow.   
Over him, she grinned down. It was always her favorite thing to have Rowan caught off guard.   
Realizing their position, she would admit she was a little shocked herself. She blushed, and his eyes moved to her lips.   
She leaned down, brushing her mouth to his. He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist, and she moaned. Their kisses quickened until she felt the snow against her back. He had flipped her over.   
“I win,” he mumbled against her lips, hand on her heart.   
“Because you cheated,” she told him.


	20. Fire and Ice and Freezing Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin and Rowan fighting over the covers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

Rowan felt the wind raging outside on his face as he lay down next to his mate in bed. Terassen was colder than what he had been used to recently, and he was shocked to find his fangs chattering.  He glanced at Aelin, wondering how she was not freezing.

Until he realized that all of the covers were on her.

If it were anyone else, he probably would have growled. Instead, he just mentally groaned as he decided his next plan of action.  As casually as he could muster, he pulled one of the thick blankets that was wrapped around her shoulder. In response, he heard a snarl from his mate.  Even now, she was allowed to be the alpha when he was not.  Sticking out his tongue at her back, he tried again.

 “Stop,” Aelin growled.  

“You can’t keep all of the blankets!” he retorted.

She turned around, sleepy face telling him that she could actually. 

“But I’m cold,” he actually resorted to whining then. Prince Rowan Whitethorn, one of the few full Fae warriors left, was whining to his Aelin.  

She rolled her eyes, “Then go get your own blankets.” 

“All of my blankets are on you,” he whispered back.

Of course, as there were Fae in the castle, even whispering this argument was probably being sent to all of them. They were probably going to be laughing about it tomorrow.  

“Then get closer to me,” she told him. “But I’m going back to sleep.” 

He smiled at her back before wrapping his arms around her back. As he settled his chin against her shoulder, his back finally under the blankets, she neatly pushed him off the bed.

 “What was that for?” 

“You were cold!” 

“You literally have fire running through you!” 

She poked her head out of her huge stack of blankets, glaring at him as he tried to sit back up.  “It’s not my fault that you don’t!”

 He rolled his eyes at her, which earned a pillow thrown straight at his nose.  They both glanced at each other a bit before they each had pillows in their hands, stares that would have sent lesser people running.  Aelin was the first to attack, grabbing her pillow and hitting him in his stomach. She squealed as he repeated the movement, falling down on the bed as he leaned over her.

 “Are you going to share?” he asked her, mouth against her throat.

Breaking out of his hold, she slammed her pillow down on his head, giggling as she escaped to the other side of the room.  

Their pillow fight lasted another thirty minutes before the sound of the door crashing open made them both jump.

 Aedion walked into the room, rubbing his eyes, “Again?”

 After looking at each other, they nodded sheepishly. Aedion rolled his eyes before telling them, in more polite words, to shut up.  When he left, they fell into a fit of silent laughter before laying back down on the bed, this time curled up next to each other with all the blankets over the two of them.


	21. Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan and Aelin parenting fic?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated: G

Nehemia Whitethorn Galathynius lay curled up next to Fleetfoot, her mom’s really old dog. Her mother and father were currently in a meeting with Uncle Dorian, and they asked her to stay in the library with Fleetfoot while they were busy.

Evangeline was also exiled here by Aunt Lysandra, but since she was fourteen and Nehemia was six, Evangeline said they couldn’t be friends.

 Nehemia hated being six. She was too young to fight and too old to be excused for setting her homework on her fire. It was unfair that her parents expected her to act like an adult when she was treated like a kid.  Of course, what annoyed her more was her little sister.

Ever since she was born, they were always talking about their little girl- Lyria Samantha. It was so unfair. She got to get away with using her powers all the time.  

She pouted, reading her book angrily.  

“What are you reading?” a little boy asked, and she glanced up, eyes narrowing. He was dark of eyes and hair, and she figured he must be the Westfall boy her mother had been talking about earlier.  

“Papa says that boys are dangerous to Fae girls,” Nehemia told him, sticking her chin up dramatically.  

“King Whitethorn sounds mean,” the boy told her, and she turned around with narrowed eyes. His hair caught fire, and he screamed.

Evangeline glanced up before rolling her eyes.  A few minutes later, Uncle Aedion walked into the room, sighing at her.

 “Mia,” he scolded, “What did we say about setting people on fire?”

 “If Lyria had did it, you would have said nothing,” she whined.

 “Lyria can’t set people on fire,” Aedion told her, picking her up after making sure the boy was okay.

“Your parents are going to be upset when they find out the reason their meeting with King Dorian was interrupted because you were being a brat.”

 “I am not a brat!” 

Aedion made a face at her, and she bore her teeth at him. It was something she often saw her mother do to her father and figured that that was the easiest way to control someone. Uncle Aedion just responded by smiling like he thought she wasn’t scary. 

***

Nehemia sat on her bed, pouting. Her parents were to come to her room and lecture her about why she was not allowed to set strangers on fire, probably. It was so unfair. She was just trying to defend herself from the scary boys like her father taught her.

 Her door cracked open, and she glanced up. Her dad was alone. That always meant it was either really good or really bad. While her mother was the type to yell at her, sometimes it was scarier to just have him set her into a trap until eventually she admits what else she did that was not allowed.

 “So, the Westfall boy?” he asked her. He didn’t sound angry, which meant that he was trying to trap her.  

She chose her words wisely. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” 

He rolled his eyes, and he sat down on her bed. “You learned my advice well. I’m proud. Did burning him send him away? Would you prefer learning how to fight without magic? I remember fighting with magic was always more fun when I was a kid, but the times have changed since then. Perhaps I could get you a knife… Hmm… Could I see your hand?” 

She gave him her hand, asking, “Aren’t you supposed to be mad at me, Papa?” 

He grinned enough to show off his fangs, “You learned the most important lesson from me, Nehemia. Boys are dangerous. I’m glad that you have listened to me well because I was worried for a bit that you would be as bad about listening as your mother. No, you have done well. You will make an excellent warrior if your mother ever lets you fight…” 

“Thank you, Papa!” she beamed.

He nodded before saying, “Now if Mom asks, I was really mean and I sentenced you to stay in your rooms for the rest of the week, alright?”

 “Isn’t that lying, Papa?”

 “Sometimes, we lie to Mom because she is really scary when she is angry,” her father told her, and she nodded in understanding.

 “I thought you weren’t scared of anything though.” 

"Your mother is just that terrifying of a woman,” he sounded proud about it, “Now, about knives. I was thinking that this one right here would be a nice comfortable fit.”  

He unsheathed a very heavy weapon, and after hearing her complain he frowned. He seemed to consider it a second before he decided that she should just use magic for now.  

For the next few weeks, while she was supposedly in her room and he was supposedly dealing with Doranelle affairs, he taught her basic ways to use her magic in defensive and offensive manners. Her favorite thing was to make knives out of the magic because they weren’t heavy to her.  

Until one day, Mom caught them. 

“How odd to see my husband that is in a different city be right here in the gardens teaching my daughter that is in her room how to fight,” she commented, and Papa’s eyes widened in fear before turning around to look at her.

 She quickly went to his defense as any good warrior would do for their commander, “He’s not in a different city, silly. He’s right here.”

 Her mother reddened before she glanced down at her daughter, who was using her fire as a shield.  Both Papa and Nehemia kept their mouths silent as she fully assessed the situation. 

Until she leaned back her head and started laughing really loudly.

 “Are you in hysterics, Mom?” Nehemia asked, worried that she’d set this off.

 She gasped out, tears in her eyes, “No, Mia, I’m not in hysterics. Though I will say that that shield could be a lot better. I swear, Rowan, if you’re going to teach our child to fight, at least do it correctly.” 

Papa looked offended, “Are you trying to say that our daughter’s technique is subpar? How cold of you.” 

They got into one of their silent arguments, and she imagined this was similar to the one they had with Uncle Aedion when he told Lyria that her drawing of him was unrealistic.

She imagined that Mom wasn’t winning because eventually said, “You made a very great effort, Nehemia.” 

Nehemia gasped, “Good effort is just a fancy way to say failure.”

 They turned to each other and suddenly were both laughing very loudly.

 “I told you,” her father told her mother, “Just the same as you.” 

"I can tell,” her mother chuckled back.  

Nehemia just sat down and pouted.


	22. Paying for Pizza With Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is actually going to be a multi-chap, but it was originally a two-shot. The multi-chap will be coming soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated: T

Aelin, Lysandra, and Nehemia were all giggling when Lysandra said, “We need pizza.”

 And that was that. As they played Cards Against Humanity together, they often got hungry. Considering it was Lysandra’s eighteenth, it was her decision as to what they were going to buy.  

“Do you have any twenties?” Lysandra asked after pulling out her money jar and seeing only a huge stack of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.

 Nehemia grabbed her purse before frowning, “I just have two dollars and a lot of change in my car for tolls.”

 Aelin sighed, offering similar results.

 “But I want pizza,” Lysandra frowned.  

“We’ll get you some,” Aelin promised her friend, “And some of those delicious chocolate brownies.” 

“But how?” Nehemia asked, “We really can’t give them this.” 

"Oh, I think we can,” Aelin said, “It is legal tender and I’m on my period and I need food.”

 Nehemia frowned at her, but she nodded, “You’re giving them the change.”

 Aelin just rolled her eyes before grabbing her phone. She flicked through Pizza Hut’s website before deciding on the 10$ meal deal with a side of the Brownies. Searching for the number, she smirked to herself.  

“Pizza hut, this is Rowan,” a voice said.

Aelin put her hand over the receiver and mouthed, “guys, he sounds hot.” 

Lysandra burst out laughing after Aelin put the phone on speaker so they all could hear, “How can someone sound hot, Aelin?” 

Aelin's face burned red, and she imagined that she could set her friend on fire.

 “So what would you like to order?” she could tell by Rowan’s voice that he was stifling laughter. Oh, boy.

 “Could I get the 10 meal deal with pepperoni as my topping?” she asked.

 “Uh huh,” it sounded like he was writing something down, “Anything else?” 

“Could I also get some of those Hershey brownie things?”

 “Great. Do you have any special requests for your order?” 

“Send your hottest delivery boy!” Nehemia yelled while Lysandra giggled loudly.

 “Alright, and what was the name on that order?” Rowan, she could tell, was having the time of his life listening to the girls.

 “Aelin Galathynius,” she told him.

 “Alright, that will be 20.33 and we will be here in thirty minutes, Aelin,” Rowan told her.

 “Thank you!” Aelin said, already feeling nervous about what she was about to do. 

“You’re welcome,” he responded, chuckling, before hanging up.

 Lysandra and Nehemia both started screaming, and Aelin laughed. They jumped into a conversation about how Aelin was going to get to have the hot delivery boy.  They all grabbed money from the various locations around the house.

When they saw that they had exactly 27.42 altogether, they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

 “I can’t believe we’re about to do this,” Nehemia giggled. 

“I can’t believe that Aelin’s going to marry the hot delivery guy and give this as her first impression,” Lysandra added.

 “Would you guys stop harassing him?” Aelin blushed. 

“No, this is great,” Lysandra told her.  Aelin rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t deny that the guy did sound cute. But how could someone even sound cute? Maybe she was just lonely after breaking up with Chaol… That had to be it.

 Ding.

 “And here is the moment where we officially become assholes,” Nehemia said, “I feel proud to have gotten here.” 

They all made faces at each other before finally Aelin stood up, holding the ziplock baggie with the order money and a separate one for the tip. 

She walked slowly to the door, adjusting her hair to where it hung low on her shoulders. Okay, so maybe she was really lonely. It was whatever.  Opening the door, she pretended that she was opening it to see her boyfriend on her first date. 

Her boyfriend was just really hot.

Tall, pine green eyes, short silver hair. She imagined that she was drooling.

 “Hi,” she whispered, playing around with a strand of hair.  Then he eyed the bag of change. Oh, no.

 A smirk slowly grew on Rowan’s face, and he said, “I’m just going to assume that’s exact change.” 

She felt more than heard Nehemia and Lysandra gaping from the corner as she sighed, “We just had a garage sale, sorry.” 

He made a “Sure” face, and her blush grew.

 “Now, you don’t mind counting that, do you?” he asked, and she wanted to growl.

How dare he question her mathematical skills? It wasn’t her fault that her teacher gave her a D last semester. 

“Not at all,” she responded, accepting his challenge.  He nodded, grabbing a notepad from his wallet and reciting her order back to her as she counted her change. She just shook her head, hoping he had got it right but figuring if he had spat on it she probably would have deserved it anyway. 

“Hi,” a voice trilled, and Aelin groaned as she reached sixteen dollars.

 “This is Lysandra, and I’m Nehemia,” the other voice sounded. Rowan laughed. 

“Rowan,” he told them. 

“Oh, we know,” Nehemia replied dreamily.

 Lysandra giggled, “And you most certainly are the cutest delivery boy.” 

“Thank you,” he told the girls, glancing down at Aelin who had then reached 18.00.

 “So, Pizza Hut?” Nehemia asked. 

Rowan rocked back on his heels, “Uh huh.”

 Lysandra tipped her head back and laughed, “You’re hilarious.” 

He seemed to tune them out after that, and Aelin honestly could not blame the man. She wondered if he was just being polite because he wanted the 7.09 in change. If she had to deal with a bunch of hormonal eighteen year olds, she would too.  “

Alright, 20.33!” she announced spilling the change back in the bag. Rowan grinned as she stood up, probably just glad she had taken so much time out of his shift.

 “Here is your food,” he told her, smirking.

 Nehemia and Lysandra went and attacked the food in the kitchen, snarling over who got the middle brownie.  

“Sorry for that,” Aelin told him.

 “You’re fine,” he said, “Have a good night.” 

She nodded, blushing again. He left.

 When she opened the pizza box, a note slipped out.

 _I’m going to save someone a little trouble and pay next time. –Rowan_  

Below it was his number.  Naturally, the girls started squealing.


	23. Coffee Shops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coffee shop AU, sequel to the original Paying for Pizza with Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

Aelin Galathynius walked into Starbucks, hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and wearing a cute dress.

She walked towards the pizza delivery boy with a smile on her face,

 “Sorry, I’m late,” she told him, “Traffic was awful.” 

“That’s fine,” he smiled, “You look great. Though I’m still doubting whether or not I can trust you after the stunt you pulled last week.”  

She blushed, and he laughed loudly showing off bright teeth. This guy could not be real.

 “In my defense, when Lysandra doesn’t get her pizza, she can get scary. I was just protecting myself, really.” 

“Right,” he chuckled, “I counted the tip by the way, and I fully intend to pay for our coffee with it.” 

“I would think that you’d have learned that workers tend to not like to count out change,” Aelin told him.  

“Oh, so you were trying to teach me a lesson then?” 

“Exactly,” Aelin grinned.  “

Well, as I am broke college kid, it seems like a necessity,” he replied.  

“Are you a freshman?” Aelin asked, and he nodded. Okay, so he wasn’t that much older than her. When Aedion had heard that he was older from Lysandra, he made it sound like he was three hundred years old.

 “Where are you going?” she asked, and he told her some college she had never heard of.  

“Is it far away?” she asked.

 “Oh, no,” he paused on what he was about to say, “There are three people wearing hoodies and binoculars sitting outside and staring at us.” 

Aelin’s eyes widened. She had a feeling that she knew exactly who they were. Her suspicions were confirmed when a male voice said, “Oh, and you must be Rowan."

Aedion pulled down his hood, grabbing a chair from the table next to them. Rowan gave her a confused glance, but she was too busy pretending that she was dead to really respond.

 “Are you not going to ask my name?” Aedion glared.

 Rowan opened his mouth, and Aedion growled, “How rude.” 

“Aedion,” Aelin warned.  

“What are your intentions with my cousin?” Aedion asked, and Aelin groaned. She smacked her hand to her forehead.

Rowan seemed only to be amused as always. “I intend to have a conversation with her and maybe get another drink with her sometime,” Rowan replied.

 “Oh, and you don’t just know this off the bat? I can’t believe you. Rowan, I’m going to ask you now. Do you want to sleep with my cousin?”

“Oh my god,” Aelin whined.  

“I don’t know how to answer that question,” Rowan said, though even now he was starting to look a little concerned.  

“Please don’t,” Aelin supplied for him. 

“What do you mean you don’t know? It’s a yes or no question, Rowan. And how could you say no to her? Look at this beautiful face and say she’s not marriage material.” 

“I thought you asked if I wanted to sleep with her?” Rowan asked.

 “Stop sassing me, boy!” her cousin roared, despite being the same age as him. “If you intend to sleep with this beautiful specimen beside me, then you obviously plan on marrying and having babies with her.” 

“I don’t think you have ever had a conversation with any male ever,” Rowan told him.

 “Oh boy,” Aelin groaned, already dreading what was about to happen. 

“Are you saying you would just sleep with her and drop her?” 

It was with that loaded question that two other hooded figures reached the table, pulling two other chairs up. 

“Aedion,” Lysandra snapped, and he turned around dutifully.

 “What, Lys?” he asked. Aelin knew she had to reprimand him for being a jerk because she was the only one he ever listened to. 

“You haven’t asked the important questions,” Lysandra told him. Maybe not.  

Rowan gave her a glance as if to say, “These haven’t been the important ones?”

She simply gave him a pitying gaze, and he nodded like a man that was accepting his death.

 “Shoot,” he told her.

 “Jonas Brothers or One Direction?” Lysandra’s face was closed up, offering none of the right answers for him.  

“Which albums are we talking about?” Rowan asked very seriously. “If we’re talking like Midnight Memories, it is obviously Jonas Brothers. Now, Up All Night, that’s a tossup.”

 “Oh my,” Nehemia gasped, “He’s good.” 

“Alice Cullen or Rosalie Hale?” Lysandra continued. Aelin looked incredulous, obviously worried for her friend’s sanity. 

“Rosalie. She was considered a bitch for the first three, and she ended up being a really great character,” Rowan replied, an intense expression on his gaze. She imagined he must have undergone torture to deal with this line of questioning from her closest family member and best friends.

 “May I, Lys?” Aedion asked the girl, and she nodded after considering for a few seconds.

 “Do you plan on getting a better job or are you going to be working for Pizza Hut your entire life?” Aedion grilled.  

“It was actually my intention to get paid in change for the rest of my life,” Rowan retorted.

 “Wrong answer,” Aedion snarled, and Aelin wondered if she was missing something or if her cousin was just always this dramatic and territorial.

 “He got the Jonas Brothers one right though,” Nehemia reasoned.  

“She raises a good point,” Lysandra added.

 “Are you guys seriously advocating Mr. Flowy Hair?” Aedion snapped.

 “He doesn’t even have long hair,” Aelin protested. 

“I saw his old Facebook profile picture!” Aedion growled. 

“Wait, you Facebook stalked me?” Rowan asked.

 “What do you expect out of me, Rowan Whitethorn?!” 

They all paused as the barista carried over two tall mochas. When she was behind the counter again, they all resumed their argument.

 “He’s hot!” Nehemia.

 “He answered my questions correctly!” Lysandra. 

“He voluntarily works as a pizza delivery guy!” Aedion

"He’s dealing with you guys!” Aelin.

 “He’s right here!”

 “Sorry,” the girls said sheepishly, and Aedion just offered him a pout.

Rowan sighed. 

“Will you guys please leave?” Aelin asked.

They all made to argue, but she glared at them and so they acquiesced.  

When they were gone, Aelin apologized. Rowan just laughed. She raised her eyebrows.

 “And you warned me that they were going to be bad.”


	24. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lysandra saving Evangeline from a brothel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated: T

Aelin and Rowan were in the middle of a discussion when Lysandra ran into the room, out of breath.

 “What is it?” Rowan asked her, shifting to grab the knife from under Aelin’s pillow.  

“Evangeline,” she gasped. 

The two fae were armed not twenty seconds after.

 “How did it happen?” Aelin asked. They were all rushing outside of the castle.

 “I was taking her on a picnic, and then I turned for a little bit. She was gone then. Oh, I don’t know what to do. How are we even going to find her?” 

“We’ll be able to scent her,” Aedion was then there then, and Lysandra glanced at the fae male’s serious gaze.  

“What if it’s too-“ 

All three of the fae growled at her, so she quieted. Though her worry was still etched across her face.

 Aelin’s court walked out of the castle, the three fae wandering over to the gardens where Lysadra had been with Evangeline only an hour before.

Her fear grew worse each minute. How could she have done this?

She remembered being on the streets alone, how no child deserved it. How she vowed that no child to her power would ever have to face what she went through.  Her heart faltered, and Aedion glanced over at her concernedly. She just shook her head though she was aware that there were tears in her eyes as she did so.

 Aelin and Rowan kept looking at each other, and Rowan seemed to be reassuring her as well. Lysandra knew if Aelin was worried then the situation was hopeless.  

They walked together for hours before they reached a shabby looking place.

Lysandra hadn’t grown up the way she had without knowing where she was.  

Evangeline was in a brothel.

 Lysandra felt something pulse through her, something that she felt towards any place like what she had once lived in not too long ago. Visions of all the dirty men and women flashed in her mind, people touching her and her having to smile. Even if those smiles felt like tearing off her own skin when she smiled them. What she was feeling seemed to be unanimous with the rest of the court. 

It wasn’t fear that Aelin’s court was feeling, it was anger. She heard the sound of Aelin’s growl and wondered how she responded herself. It didn’t seem like she was responding at all. Like her body was somewhere else, and she was just giving it direction. 

Aedion and Lysandra were in first.

 “What are you two looking for?” a dirty man asked them. A knife was at his throat in an instant.

 “There’s a little girl we’re particularly interested in,” Aedion growled, “And if you want to live for an hour longer, then you might consider leading us to her.” 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” the man gasped out.

 “Wrong answer,” Lysandra snarled before turning into a mountain lion. The contents of his throat were on the floor of the brothel seconds later.

 Rowan and Aelin both glanced around the rooms, at the foul smells that Lysandra still had nightmares about. Aelin only briefly glanced at Lysandra to reassure her before she turned away again. 

They had to find her before it was too late.  

Then they heard a familiar scream, and she saw the blurs of her friends as they ran toward the noise. Her heart raced before she looked up and saw Aedion’s face. He only nodded at her before they ran together towards the room.  

The sight before her was ghastly. A large man stood by Evangeline, laughing cruely.

He was until his throat spilled.  Rowan still had the man’s blood on him as he pulled Evangeline into his arms. He whispered something to the little girl before handing her to Lysandra.  

“Get her out of here, she’s scarred enough already,” Aelin commanded. Lysandra knew what they were going to do and figured that Aelin’s logic was sound enough. 

Lysandra and Evangeline were both crying when they finally reached the castle.  

“Please don’t ever do that to me again,” she whispered to the girl.

 “I’m sorry, Lys,” she replied.  

“It’s not your fault,” she told her, “I know that.” 

They walked upstairs, clutching each other until Rowan, Aelin, and Aedion were home.


	25. Evangeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Backstory of Evangeline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

Evangeline never met her parents.

She was orphaned, to her knowledge.  

Before being sent to work for Clarisse, she really had nothing except hunger and a beautiful face. 

When she was sent to Clarisse, she had hunger for being far away. Tears had slipped down her cheeks the night she found out what she was going to do. She had yearned for so long for finding a family, and instead she was stuck with this.

 After marking her as one of hers, Clarisse shoved her into a hot bathtub and started scrubbing away the grime from all of her skin. Evangeline wished she would leave her dirty. Undesirable.

 “Evangeline, right?” the girl named Lysandra asked. Her pretty eyes seemed sad, like she understood. But she seemed so angry the whole time she was talking to Clarisse. She had to hate her. 

“Yes,” she whispered, voice catching from being afraid and crying.

 “You don’t want this, do you?” Lysandra asked.  “

What do you think?” 

She grimaced. Evangeline wondered how even when she was making faces that she was able to look beautiful. It didn’t seem like anybody could be born that way.

 “I’m sorry, that was a foolish question. What I meant to ask was, are you interested in a way out?”

 Lysandra’s gaze was genuine. Trustworthy. Evangeline wondered if this was the face that her mother might have given her. 

So the answer was simple for Evangeline. No matter what Lysandra would do, she would accept.

 “Yes,” she told her, chin tipping up to the girl that was her commander.

 “It will hurt, and you will never be the same,” Lysandra warned. 

Evangeline looked around the room, then stared into her eyes. “I’m going to assume whatever it is, this life is worse. And I won't be the same no matter what I choose.” 

"You’re a strong girl, Evangeline.” 

Evangeline nodded, trying to hide the quaver in her voice, she asked, “What do we need to do?”

 Lysandra grabbed a knife from under one of the pillows. Her eyes seemed sad, broken.  “It’s the only way out,” she told the girl. 

And she slashed her cheeks. Blood started seeping immediately, and the two girls started screaming.


	26. Lysandra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lysandra's back story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated: T

Four year old Lysandra glanced up at her mother. 

“Why do other little girls have daddies?” she asked. Sometimes, she thinks her mother is a witch. She wondered if she was going to think that today. 

“Because their fathers love them and their mommies,” the witch growled.

 Lysandra closed her mouth, knowing what was to come next. Any time she asked about where her daddy was, the witch would awaken. She felt the slap across her face mutely, and she just stayed silent.

Maybe if her father had loved her, she wouldn’t be here.

***

 Lysandra’s snout sniffed the trash as she hunted in her hound form. Even when she shifted, her bones looked prominent to her.

 “Out of the way,” the soup maker shouted. She whimpered but did as he asked. 

Her thoughts went to her father again, and she wondered if he changed into dogs too. Or if he changed into pretty women. She sometimes did that when she was begging. But it was harder to stay warm when she was a pretty girl. And she sensed rain soon to come. 

A wealthy looking couple was just around the corner, and she quickly changed into a form she was used to by now. Bright green eyes, long brown hair. Beautiful in a way that felt unrealistic.

 “Oh,” the woman said, “You just look so dreadful. How could someone abandon someone as beautiful as you?” 

As beautiful. Lysandra had never been valued for intelligence or kindness. And she was aware of that. Which is why she shifted into this form. Plain girls were not seen because people could not see character.

 “We must feed her,” the man said, then turned to smile at the little girl.

“Where would you like to go? It will be our treat.” 

She smelled something familiar about him.

Before she allowed herself to hope, she murmured, “Could we go get some of the soup? I’m very cold.” 

“Of course!” the woman said immediately, and then they walked together. She pretended that they were just a family about to eat. Not that she was a starving, abandoned child.  The man kept stealing glances at her, and she noted that his nostrils flared, taking in her scent. He was aware that she was a shifter too. 

“Well, here we are,” he said.  And then they ate.

And then the wealthy couple left her alone again.

She pretended they were just running errands. Sometimes it was just easier that way.

 But in reality they abandoned her just as everyone else always did.  

The rain started to fall like tears on her lovely face, some of the dirt she encountered starting to disappear. She knew the soup wasn’t going to keep her warm, and that she would be sleeping as a dog today. But she had to let the rain clean her a bit more. To feel like a bath. She hadn’t had one in so long.  

Then, something felt off. She lost the feeling of being like clay.

Her whole body stiffened. She tried to shift.  It didn’t work. 

Her magic was gone. And she was stuck in this form.


	27. Sometimes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Aelin wonders what her life would have been like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

Aelin stared at her reflection in the mirror after pulling on one of Rowan’s shirts, noting random scars across her body, the sharper parts of her fangs.

She wished sometimes that she could just look like a regular twenty year old girl. It was not that she was insecure, but she wished sometimes that every scar she got would have never been put there in the first place.  After a sigh, she padded her way to where Rowan was laying on their bed.

 “Does it look like we are in better or worse condition from yesterday?” she asked her mate.

Yesterday, she heard whispers of slavery in her kingdom, and she sent Rowan out first thing in the morning to investigate. If any of her citizens thought that slavery was acceptable, she would burn them. 

“It seems to be just rumors, actually,” Rowan told her.  

“Then why were you here so late?” she growled.

 “Well, Aedion-“

 A snarl fell from her lips, “If you try to tell me that you and Aedion had some type of peeing contest, then I will sit on you.” 

_That sounds like a really fun punishment, Fireheart._

He grinned at her, and his teasing was made worse by those gods-damned green eyes making contact with her own.

 “You’re insufferable. Also, what did I say about being a territorial asshole?” 

“Something about fire, I think… "

“Sometimes, I think that you are more insufferable than I am, Whitethorn.” 

Rowan just gave her an incredulous look. She held his gaze for a few seconds before she could not bear to have him see what she had been thinking earlier.  

“Aelin,” Rowan whispered, “About tomorrow.” 

He knew that’s what plagued her thoughts. The day her parents were murdered. 

“Please, don’t,” she sighed. “I just want to not think about it.” 

“You can’t just dismiss your feelings,” he told her, “And you know that you can talk about anything with me. I don’t care how you express it, I just don’t want you to suffer alone, Aelin.” 

Her breathing startled, and instead of responding she just lay her head on his shoulder. Right where he had taken an arrow for her. He wrapped an arm around her, silently comforting her. One thing that she loved about him was how they did have to say anything to each other. They could depend on the other, and they do not even have to acknowledge it. It was hard to just let someone take care of her. It was hard to just admit to herself that she needed to be taken care of. But Rowan always knew what she needed, just as she always knew when he needed her.

 “I love you,” she murmured to his arms. He just squeezed her harder. 

Sometimes Aelin wondered what would have happened if her life had not been changed all those years ago, but most of the time she knew that what happened was all worth it.


	28. I'm Pregnant- Number Fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I got you a present." + "I'm pregnant."

_“I got you a present.” + “I’m pregnant.”_

      Aelin awoke to the feeling of Rowan’s arms around her.   
      “Hey,” she said sleepily. He smiled into her hair, and she moved herself closer to him.   
      “Hello,” he whispered into her ear.   
       It was as she started to wake up that she remembered the news she had to tell him. She hadn’t bled yet, and it had been well past a fortnight since she was expected.  
     “I need to tell you something,” she murmured to him.   
     He avoided her gaze. “I got you a present.”  
     She allowed him to drag her along, figuring that he had a reason for evading the question. They held each other’s hands as they walked out of their bedchambers together.   
      It was a nice day, and he walked with her to the castle’s gardens. She rested her head against him, shocked to see that it wasn’t snowing for once. She loved the cold, but sometimes she loved the life that was filled within the outdoors.   
      It was especially fitting for today.   
      He wrapped an arm around her side, and they sat together on a bench. Instead of talking, they just enjoyed the weather and each other. She rested her head on his chest, feeling the steady heartbeat.  
      For once in a very long time, Aelin felt serene. She felt calm. Usually, she felt like she could take on the world, but right now she felt like there was nothing to take on.   
      She hadn’t felt so okay in years, and she knew it was because of her mate at her side.   
      “Rowan,” she whispered.   
      “Just relax, Fireheart,” he replied into her ear. So she did. She breathed in the pine and snow smell of him, pulling her hands around him to embrace him. They rarely ever got to be together like this. So free. Usually, it was keeping each other alive. But not today.  
      She saw a small bird being fed by its mother. Her stomach twisted. She probably needed to tell him.   
      “Rowan,” she said, sad that she was breaking the spell.   
      “Yes?” he asked.   
      “I need to tell you something,” she reiterated.   
      He squeezed her hands. Instead of answering, he led her back to the castle. When they neared the weapons room, he put his hands over her head.   
      “Rowan,” Aelin said. She really wasn’t sure why he was acting this way. He didn’t answer, and she thought back to the mother bird.   
      “I’m pregnant,” she said, just as he pulled his hands away.   
      Standing in front of them was a crib made out of pine from Terrasen.  
      “You knew?” she asked, turning around to look at his face.   
      He smirked, “You realize I’m fae, right? Pretty soon on we can figure it out.”


	29. I Almost Lost You- Number Fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Please, don't leave." + "I almost lost you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

    Aelin and Rowan stood next to each other, a battle in front of them. From both sides, it seemed like everyone was dying or being injured.   
    It looked hopeless.   
    Not often had Aelin looked at something and lost all hope, but this was one of those times. She didn’t think that she and much less her army would make it through the day.   
    The witches were stronger than she had thought. She had led her people into a battle that wasn’t going to possibly work for them. She had failed them as their queen and as their commander.  
    “We will make it through,” Rowan said softly. “You’re still their queen, and you’re one of the best they could hope for.”  
    It didn’t matter if she was queen or not when all of her followers were dead.   
    She made the decision in that moment. Rowan read it in her face.   
    “Please, don’t leave,” he told her, but she was already gone. She knew he was speaking as her mate and not as a ruler, but Terrasen needed a ruler.   
    She moved forward, raising the Sword of Orynth, her father’s sword. Aedion had given it to her before the battle, an odd look in his eyes. It was now or never. As their queen, she would do everything for her kingdom.   
     And so she fought. Fought longer and harder than she ever had because it was the only solution. She had to save her the kingdom. It was her entire purpose as queen, and she would.   
    Feeling pain in her shoulder, she kept moving forward. Kept swinging her blade. All she could do now was keep swinging. From her side, she knew that Rowan was behind her, fighting off anything that neared her blind spot with grace. She knew how this was going to end up. And she refused to let it happen.   
    Blood coated her stomach, and she wasn’t sure whether it was hers or her opponents anymore. Wouldn’t look down to decide. Because at that point all she could do for them was fight.   
    And soon she couldn’t anymore. A blade had speared clean through her, and the world had gone black.  

***

    Rowan lay over his mate’s body, silent sobs raking his body.   
    They had won. But at what cost? What was the point for any of this?  
    Her heart beat very slowly, and the more he listened the more tears fell from his face. All around him were soldiers in familiar positions, sobbing over bodies of people they loved. There was no real winner. Not really. There never was a winner, that’s how worked. Nobody truly lived after war.   
     He held her in his arms brokenly sobbing, but then a healer was there. Taking her away from him, but she was saving her. 

***

    Rowan waited three nights, but she was alive. Her fingers held onto him weakly, and he leaned down to kiss her face.  
     “I almost lost you,” she whispered.  
     Rowan couldn’t help but laugh. Of course she was worried about him.   
     “Oh, you’re still a pain in the ass,” she commented. “Maybe that wouldn’t have been too bad.”  
     He laughed, pure joy filling him. She was alive. And he had almost lost her.


	30. Just Plane Annoying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love you rowaelin fics...what about "bonding solely via eye contact over that annoying person on our plane that we’re both slowly becoming more and more exasperated about au" rowaelin?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated T  
> Don't hate me for the title whoops.

     Rowan flipped some hair out of his face, reading a book to pass the time on the plane. He was a businessman, heading out for a conference in Denver. Beside him was a rather annoying man, who he assumed was going to check out the new marijuana laws in Colorado. Considering that he was wearing a shirt that said, “It’s all natural” with a marijuana leaf, it would make sense.   
    It did help that on the other side of that guy was a pretty twenty something who kept giving him annoyed glances like _can you believe the guy next to us?_  
    She looked like someone who traveled frequently herself, possibly another business person. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and she wore artfully done make-up: smokey eyes, pink lips, light blush. A black dress fell gracefully over one shoulder. He imagined if she weren’t a businesswoman, she ought to be a pharmaceutical rep.   
    It was as he was pondering her occupation that the man beside them spoke up.   
    “Would you guys be willing to sign a petition for medical marijuana in Oklahoma?” he asked.   
    The girl rolled her eyes before informing him that she wasn’t Oklahoman.   
    “It’s all natural, man, people can’t get addicted. It’s the pharmaceutical companies trying to take over, you know?”  
    “I’m supportive of legalizing it because it would take a lot of undeserving people out of our corrupt prison system,” she told him. “Not because I want to smoke a joint.”  
    He shut up after that.   
    Rowan had to admit, she had a beautiful voice. She definitely was intelligent and had similar beliefs as well. Hopefully, she was going to the same conference as him, so he could give her his number.   
    The rest of the plane ride was stiff as the trio kept glancing at each other but not speaking. Rowan wanted to say something to her, but he worried he would look like more of a jerk than Smokey Joe, so he avoided speaking. He imagined that he should say something, but he wasn’t sure quite what to say.   
    By the end of the plane ride though when they were done listening to the regular safety precautions and she had walked out to the terminal, he tapped her shoulder.   
    “Oh, hello,” she said, pulling her purse over her shoulder.   
   “Are you a business person too?” Rowan asked.   
   “Oh, no, I’m a travel nurse. My friend Lysandra made me  put all this on because she wanted me to ‘meet’ someone on my trip.”  
    Rowan laughed, “I volunteer as tribute.”  
    The girl rolled her eyes, but she smiled. “Aelin.”  
    “Rowan.”  
    They shook hands, and he told her that he actually didn’t have to go to the conference for another few hours. “If you wanted to get some lunch,” he added.   
    “Lunch would be nice,” she told him, smirking. “Oh, and how do you feel about the legalization of marijuana?”  
    Rowan just laughed.


End file.
